Our Blessed
Mother, the Mother of the Son of God, loved her Son with a perfect love. Her love for her Son was a love that was
beyond what we could ever imagine. She
conceived Him miraculously, bore Him in her womb, gave birth to Him, nursed
Him, raised Him and loved Him throughout His life. It’s difficult to even imagine the depth and
beauty of the love she had for Jesus. Generally
speaking, a mother’s love is powerful, unwavering, deep and filled with
tenderness. Try to imagine the
Immaculate Heart of Mother Mary and the amazing depth of love alive in her
heart. I am reminded of a simple, but powerful
scene in John’s Gospel: Standing by the cross of Jesus were
his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene (John 19:25).
This loving
mother stood at the foot of the Cross, gazing upon her crucified Son, continuing
to exude every motherly virtue. And
because it’s hard to fathom the depth of her love for her Son, it’s also very
hard to imagine the depth of sorrow and interior suffering she endured as she
watched the cruelty toward Jesus unfold. All she could do in that moment was stand by
Him and with Him in this moment of extreme agony. Her love was expressed, in that moment, by her
fidelity to Him.
What’s
beautiful to know is that love, sorrow, compassion and suffering were united as
one within her Immaculate Heart. Within
the beauty of her heart was every human emotion, fueled by God’s grace,
enabling her to give to her Son the greatest gift she had: her motherhood. She was a true mother throughout her life,
and, in this moment, as her Son hung on the Cross, her motherhood culminated in
a perfect human expression.
We all long
to be loved by another. To give and receive love is the greatest gift that we
can give and receive. Love is what we
were made for and is the source of our fulfillment in life. We can be certain that as Mother Mary stood at
the foot of the Cross, her human heart experienced the greatest fulfillment
ever known. Her heart was fulfilled
because she exercised her motherly love to perfection.
I think the best
way to understand her heart of love is through prayerful meditation, asking our
Blessed Mother to reveal her heart to us today. In my opinion, one of the most powerful images
of perfect motherly love is the Pieta, a sculpture carved from a single piece
of granite by Michelangelo. I took some
time today and sat in silent adoration of this holy image of perfect motherly
love. I came to a couple of conclusions
in my reflection. First, Mother Mary has
this same depth of love for each of us, no doubt about it. Her heart burns with
compassion as she gazes upon us, even in our sin. Second, I know that our Blessed Mother’s love
must also fill our hearts and overflow into the lives of others. We all must allow her compassion, concern,
fidelity and mercy to flow through our hearts. We need to ask ourselves, “Who do I need to
love with the heart of our Blessed Mother?” Seek to receive the love in the heart of the
Mother of God and seek to give that love. Receive it in and then allow it to flow forth. There is truly nothing in this world more
beautiful and awe inspiring than the holy image of this love.
No comments:
Post a Comment