25 June 2022
Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today’s Gospel presents a number of aspects of Mary’s personality, all of which converge in her faith and trust in the Lord’s love and respect for her, making her a woman of hope, giving her an immaculate heart, one where no evil lodges.
She listens to the message the Lord is sending her through the words of Gabriel, not hesitating to ask questions to understand better what precisely what the Lord wants of her and how his will can be reasonably be put into effect.
Meanwhile, we learn something about the Lord, how he patiently asks for a reply. He is the Lord, he can make demands, but he does not do so. He shows respect for her weighing alternatives, for a need of time to give a response. He humbles himself before her giving an immediate answer.
Isn’t that what “discernment” all about? Isn’t Mary’s prayer summed up in the responsorial psalm, “Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones”? And doesn’t God hesitate to impose his will on her? After all, in this account, he has asked her three times to be the mother of his son before she consents.
So, she shows us that being the essence of “the Immaculate Heart” does not mean she has to respond in mechanical way what she thinks God is asking her to do, and she shows us in this account alone that God respects growth in time.
The seed of growth is planted deep in the soil of faith and where faith is, love grows to enable us to be men and women of hope. Let us today pray to Mary to show us how to discern God’s will for us each day and in that way make our hearts like hers.