A MOTHER’S HEART PIERCED FOR LOVE
Introduction
The celebration in honour of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is closely linked to the solemnity of the Sacred Heart, which it follows by one day. This is not by accident. When we honour the Sacred Heart of Jesus we simply celebrate our Lord’s great love which he showed by dying for us and which he continues to give us day after day. Mary was close to her Son, not only because she was his Mother but because she loves everyone for whom her Son lived, died, and rose from the dead. Her heart is large enough to include us all in her love. She is with us in our sorrows and joys.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
we thank you for the love
with which you filled the heart of Mary,
the Mother of your Son and our mother.
In your great kindness you have given her to us
to open our hearts to your word and to your love,
so that we can seek your will in all we do.
May she also let our hearts be touched
by the needs of people with sorrows and cares.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
First reading: Isaiah 61:9-11
Their race will be famous throughout the nations, their descendants throughout the peoples. All who see them will admit that they are a race whom the Lord has blessed. ‘I exult for joy in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God, for he has clothed me in the garments of salvation, he has wrapped me in the cloak of integrity, like a bridegroom wearing his wreath, like a bride adorned in her jewels. ‘For as the earth makes fresh things grow, as a garden makes seeds spring up, so will the Lord make both integrity and praise spring up in the sight of the nations.’’
Responsorial Psalm 1 Samuel 2:1,4-8
R/ My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour..
My heart exults in the Lord.
I find my strength in my God;
my mouth laughs at my enemies
as I rejoice in your saving help. R/
The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the weak are clothed with strength.
Those with plenty must labour for bread,
but the hungry need work no more.
The childless wife has children now
but the fruitful wife bears no more. R/
It is the Lord who gives life and death,
he brings men to the grave and back;
it is the Lord who gives poverty and riches.
He brings men low and raises them on high. R/
He lifts up the lowly from the dust,
from the dungheap he raises the poor
to set him in the company of princes
to give him a glorious throne.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
on them he has set the world. R/
Alleluia cf. Luke 2:19
Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed is the Virgin Mary who kept the word of God
and pondered it in her heart.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Luke 2:41-51
Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.
Commentary
Mary’s “pondering in her heart” is surely the headline for Christian contemplation. Therefore it may be appropriate to let Meister Eckhart interpret today’s gospel passage for us in his distinctive way.
“They had lost the child Jesus in the crowd. And so they had to go back to where they had come from. And when they got back to their starting point, the Temple, they found him.
And so in truth, if you would find this noble birth [of God in the soul] you must leave the crowd and return to the source and ground whence you came. All the powers of the soul, and all their works—these are the crowd. Memory, understanding and will, they all diversify you, and therefore you must leave them all: sense perceptions, imagination, or whatever it may be that in which you find or seek to find yourself. After that, you may find this birth but not otherwise—believe me!
All must well up from within, out of God, if this birth is to shine forth truly and clearly, and all your activity must cease, and all your powers must serve His ends, not your own. If this work is to be done, God alone must do it, and you must just allow it to be. Where you truly go out from your will and your knowledge, God with His knowledge surely and willingly goes in and shines there clearly.”
Intercessions
Let us raise our hearts in prayer to God our Father, and ask him to fill our world and our communities with the warmth of his love. We say:
R/ Lord, hear your people.
– For the Church of Jesus Christ on earth, which is a community of weak people, that the power of God’s goodness may become visible in our love for one another, we pray:
R/ Lord, hear your people.
– For our world with all its needs, that Mary may watch over it, pray for it and keep people from warring with one another and from making one another suffer, we pray:
R/ Lord, hear your people.
– For people in lowly jobs, that they may learn from our humble Mother that God values all work done with love, we pray:
R/ Lord, hear your people.
– For all missionaries, that like Mary, our dear Mother, we may give Christ to our world and have a heart loving all people and especially the poorest and the weakest, we pray:
R/ Lord, hear your people.
– For all of us united here, that our faith may produce in us, as in Mary, fruits of genuine love for one another, we pray:
R/ Lord, hear your people.
Our loving God, these are the things we ask of you today. Let Mary enrich our prayers with hers and give us every good gift through Christ Jesus our Lord. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
Generous and merciful God,
we are sure you accept our prayers wholeheartedly
when there is peace among us
and when we try to the best of our ability
to be one of heart and soul.
Help us in our weak efforts
on account of the prayers of Mary.
With her we offer you all honor and praise
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Preface: The Immaculate Heart of Mary (ICEL)
The heart of Mary is the heart of one who lives by the New Law.
Father, all-powerful and ever-living God,
we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
You gave the Blessed Virgin Mary
a wise and obedient heart,
that she might perfectly carry out your will,
a new and gentle heart,
in which you were well pleased
and on which you inscribed
the law of the New Covenant.
You gave her an undivided and pure heart,
that she might be worthy
to be the Virgin Mother of your Son
and to rejoice to see you for ever.
You gave her a steadfast and watchful heart,
so that she could endure without fear the sword of sorrow
and await in faith the resurrection of her Son.
With the whole company of the angels
we sing your praises
in their canticle of joy:
Holy, holy, holy Lord…
Prayer after Communion
Good and loving Father,
in this Eucharist we have enjoyed
the food of life and the drink of joy
of your Son Jesus Christ.
Fill us with his Spirit of love,
that our love, like that of Mary,
may be reliable and lasting,
that no indifference may extinguish it,
no flood of impatience nor hatred may sweep it away.
Let it be a flame warming the hearts of people
and a fire burning for you
our living God, now and for ever.
Blessing
God has been very good to us. He has given us Jesus to save us from our inability to love God and neighbour. He has given us Mary to watch over us, to care for us, to pray with us and for us. Yes, Mary cares. Could our thanksgiving not be that we too learn to care for one another and to render all the service we can? To have a heart similar to that of Jesus and Mary. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go and, like Mary, serve the Lord in one another. R/ Thanks be to God.
Congratulations to the Claretian Missionaries as they celebrate the Feast of their Mother Foundress enshrined in their name: Sons of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Congregatio Missionariorum Filiorum Immaculati Cordis Beatae Mariae Virginis. In brief: Cordis Mariae Filii – CMF.
Immaculate Heart of Mary – Be our Salvation!