Homily for Saturday Devotional Mass: The Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 

Judith 13:17-20, 15:19

Responsorial: Lk 1:46-55

Lk 2:46-51

 Christ the King Catholic Church, Iowa Park, TX

 

When we speak of the ‘Immaculate Heart of Mary’, we need to understand it within the context of what Sacred Scripture reveals about our Blessed Mother. Mary’s Immaculate Heart refers to the very person and being of the Blessed Virgin herself. It points to the unique and intimate source and center of her interior life, of her mind and her memory, of her will and her love. Mary’s Immaculate Heart reminds us of the single-mindedness with which she loved God and his disciples and how she devoted herself wholeheartedly to the redemptive mission of her son, Jesus Christ.

God our Father loves us so much that he gave His Church, the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ as proof of his loving kindness. After that, God gave us the heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary as the model of the ‘new heart’ of the disciple who lives by the New Covenant of the Gospel.

Recall, that the heart of the Blessed Virgin, blessed from her conception with the grace of God and filled with faith and love, received the eternal Logos – the Word of God. In saying yes, with her fiat, she became the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, wedded to Him who always dwells within her. We know Mary’s heart is called Immaculate because it is free from the stain of sin. But Mary’s heart is also wise, because she treasured the words and deeds of Jesus in his ineffable mystery of salvation and pondered them all her life. Mary’s heart is obedient because she willingly united her will to the will of God, who longed to save his children from sin. Mary’s heart is new because it was clothed in the anticipated grace of Jesus Christ when she was conceived in the womb of St. Anne. And Mary’s heart is watchful like the heart of the beloved in the Song of Songs, because when Christ lay asleep in his tomb, her heart kept vigil, waiting for His Resurrection.

In the Gospel reading, we heard the first words spoken by Jesus as recorded by St, Luke. He asked Mary and Joseph “Why were you looking for me?” (Lk 2:49). Jesus asks us Christians today the same question:  why do we look for Jesus? Do we look for a savior who has come to affirm us in our sins, to make us feel better about ourselves, to hug it out and tell us everything will be ok as long as we are nice to one another? I would hope not! That describes Dr. Phil and not the Messiah of God. For the last fifty years or so, we have gone astray in our image of Christ and have been looking for ‘Buddy Jesus.’ My dear Christians, ‘Buddy Jesus’ does not exist! Jesus Christ is our friend, our savior, our redeemer, our creator, and our God, but he is not our ‘buddy’. Jesus came to call us to repentance so that he can forgive us.  Jesus commands us to sin no more because our sins offend God. Jesus calls us to be perfect as the Father is perfect. And he gives us the grace to be able to work toward it. Jesus does not love us AS we are – He loves us DESPITE how we are. And he wants us to be better – to be who we were created to be.

Now that may be a difficult message for some to hear, no doubt. To be able to accept this truth, we have to have hearts like the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We must make our hearts wise by learning the Scriptures and meditating on them like Mary did. We must make our hearts obedient by conforming our will to the will of God and not trying to force the other way around. We must make our hearts new by clothing them in sanctifying grace received through the sacraments, especially frequent confession and communion. We must make our hearts watchful by being hopeful, vigilant, and ready for the coming of Christ on our last day. Let us learn from our Blessed Mother. Let us learn to have hearts like her Immaculate Heart. Let us learn to love Jesus Christ as she loves Him.

 

Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pray for Us!