The Immaculate Heart of our Blessed Mother is a sign of her perfect love for us. It is ‘Immaculate’ in that it’s spotless and perfect in love. Her love is the perfection of a mother’s love. This is a unique love of the highest order. A mother’s love is not just love of neighbor or a friendship. Rather, a mother’s love is such that it’s completely invested, nurturing, sacrificial and total. This is the love our Blessed Mother has for us.
The Immaculate Heart, and therefore, the Immaculate love of our Blessed Mother is a glorious gift from God. She is the instrument through which Salvation Himself came into our world. She is also, therefore, the continuing instrument through which all the grace given by Christ comes into the world. She is the Mediatrix of Grace. God could have saved us any way He chose, but we must humbly and honestly acknowledge that the way He chose to save us is through the mediation of the Blessed Mother.
Today’s Gospel is the account of Mary and Joseph finding the 12-year-old Jesus in the Temple after fearing Him lost. When they finally find Him, He says, "Why were you worried? Didn't you know I must be in my Father's house?" (Luke 2:41-51)
During my reflection today I thought, “how could Mary and Joseph just ‘lose’ their son?” It's not like they forgot He was the Son of God. Rather, they might have been just so comfortable in their family life that they thought He must be with one of the other families (possibly even relatives) traveling with them and so didn't worry until a couple of days had passed. But when they did notice His absence, they were distraught.
Sometimes I get distraught that I'm not giving Jesus enough attention and conclude that I've ‘lost’ Him. When that happens, I have to try and remember that I know where to ‘find’ Him; He'll be in His Father's ‘house’, in the Tabernacle. If you know someone who has ‘lost’ Jesus or is simply just looking for Him, direct them to the Father's house. They’ll also find Him there, in the Tabernacle. Tell them to look for the flickering red lamp that keeps vigil for us when we can't be there.
Most all of us have trust issues, even with God. We have those issues because what is happening to us at a given moment of our lives often doesn’t make sense to us. Figuring out how to respond is even more difficult. And then, of course, there are those experiences of misunderstanding, disappointment, and even betrayal. Events in our lives can easily overwhelm us and fill us with fear. It is in times like these that the life of Mary can speak to us. She was battered by many tragedies in her life and was, I’m sure, often afraid. Yet, her steadfastness in remaining open to the mystery of God and trusting in God’s faithfulness never wavered. She was present from the beginning to the end and beyond, into the life of the early Church. She is the true disciple. There is no one better than she to pray with, through the Rosary, as we ask God to help us in our lives to never lose heart and trust that Jesus is with us.
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