The Heartbeat of God!

Saturday, June 8, 2024

Feast of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary

2 Tm 4:1-8; Lk 2:41-51

Today we celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary!

It is very fitting that we celebrate the feast, followed by the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

The heart of Mary can never be separated from that of Jesus, and both were well-aligned with God’s will for humanity. 

The union of the two hearts can be explained by the fact that Mary became the first disciple of Jesus by participating in his life and suffering. 

We understand that Mary’s heart was beating in unison with that of her Son in three ways. 

In Obedience: If Jesus’ incarnation was obedience to God’s redemptive plan (Heb 5:8), Mary’s ‘yes’ signified her active cooperation with God’s Holy Will for humanity. Thus, Jesus and Mary manifested their active collaboration in bringing God’s Will to fruition. Filled with the Holy Spirit and sharing the redemptive sufferings of Jesus, Mary became the model of the way we should love God. Mary, who was fully human, was able to love God in the way that God should be loved. 

In Solidarity: Mary was intuitive in offering her solidarity with those who suffered. Her voluntary visit to Elizabeth and empathetic intervention at the wedding feast of Cana manifest her virtue of solidarity, which imitates the compassion of Jesus himself. In how it was moved with compassion toward the needy, Mary’s heart is found in union with Jesus’ own. Thus, honoring Mary’s immaculate heart is celebrating the extraordinary holiness of the Mother of God that justified itself in charity. 

In Accompaniment: Mary led the Church from the front in the absence of Jesus. We firmly believe that the same Mother rushes to help those who are stranded. We understand Mary’s empathy through the saying that ‘There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried.’ As we find in today’s Gospel, the loss of Child Jesus caused her great sorrow. Besides this, we relate six sorrows to Mother Mary. Mary is an example of the fact that the heart that has known suffering strengthens and upholds those who suffer. 

The Immaculate Heart of Mary facilitates humanity’s union with God. 

By echoing the heartbeat of God, Mary’s life offers an unparalleled lesson in discipleship. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar