Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary
It is only fitting that we as a Church should celebrate the memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary the day following the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Their hearts were so intimately linked.
Yet in today’s gospel, we see what might seem like a break from that intimate union between the two. A twelve-year-old Jesus stays behind in the temple, without asking for permission, let alone informing his mother. From early on, Jesus begins to follow his vocation of being with the Father in his house. Mary, though at first filled with great anxiety, “kept all these things in her heart.”
This was only the beginning of Christ’s calling in this world. Then would come his baptism, his ministry, his passion and death, and his glorious resurrection. Through the joys, the struggles, the suffering and the pain, our blessed mother kept her beautiful son close to her heart, loving him and pondering the mystery of God’s love for us all. Mary, keep our hearts in your pure heart, that we may love Jesus with your own perfect love.