Daily Gospel Reflection
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June 17, 2023
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.
I find tremendous consolation in today’s gospel on this Memorial of The Immaculate Heart of Mary. The obedient, unblemished Mother of God, whose interior life was one of deep virtue and love, speaks specifically of the distress she experienced as she and Joseph searched for Jesus. While part of me feels a bit bad that I find her discomfort reassuring, I rest in the thought that such a woman of courage and faith could, like me, have experienced moments, even days, of anxiety.
As a young adult, rigidity, productivity, and self-sufficiency were tools that numbed my feelings of vulnerability and angst. More recently, through motherhood, I have been shown the depth of God’s grace and love, the shallowness of relying on my own strength, and the toxicity of my anxiety.
Coincidentally, as a mother of a twelve-year-old son with chronic illness, one that for some time made him feel far beyond my protection, I wonder if Mary laid awake at night fretting during the days she couldn’t find Jesus. Did she plead in prayer, cry with her husband, or carefully outline her next steps? Did her heart race or her stomach hurt? In reading her dialogue, I feel un-alone and understood. The Mother of God felt the gravity of a soul entrusted to her care, too.
Ultimately, Mary finds Jesus, her peace and ours, in God’s temple. Perhaps that point, too, can serve as a reminder to us of where our answers lie, where our anxieties can be extinguished, and where our hearts can find rest—not in our own strength and strategy but in the presence of our trustworthy God.
Prayer
Ever-loving Father, in your goodness you made Mary the mother of your Son and of all your sons and daughters. In her Immaculate Heart, you give us a model of fidelity to your holy will and of unconditional love for all people. Through her motherly intercession, help us to imitate her example and join our hearts to yours that we may live with you forever. We ask this through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Today’s feast day of the Immaculate Heart of Mary falls on the day after the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus because devotion to these two hearts was promoted together as a means of entering more deeply into the mystery of God’s love.
In 1944, in the midst of World War II, Pope Pius XII dedicated the entire world to the patronage and protection of the Immaculate Heart of Mary—the intention expressed in his decree was "peace among nations, freedom for the Church, the conversion of sinners, the love of purity and the practice of virtue.”
Though it found prominence in the 20th century, devotion to Mary’s Immaculate Heart is not new. Early Christians revered the movements of Mary’s heart in the Gospels—she pondered the events of the nativity in her heart (Lk 2:19); and when she and Joseph presented Jesus in the temple, Simeon prophesied that a sword of sorrow would pierce her heart (Lk 2:35). Of course, Mary was faithful to Jesus to the end, and the image of her sorrowfully beholding her Son on the cross has always struck a deep chord with the faithful.
Devotion to Mary’s heart was taken up by theologians and saints from many ages, but it was the 17th century French preacher, St. John Eudes, who formalized this devotion into liturgical practice that we observe today. John’s spirituality focused on the love of Jesus and Mary, symbolized in their sacred hearts. He began a feast day for parishes in France to encourage people to honor the heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus; these feast days spread quickly and were taken up around the Church.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus focuses on God’s immense love for humanity, even though it was repulsed, scorned, and crucified. Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary points us towards her love for Jesus and for God as an example.
Though the Basilica on campus was built before St. John Eudes was canonized, it includes a stained glass window that shows him honoring the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Basilica also contains this mural of the Immaculate Heart of Mary; the statue comes from the retirement and nursing home for aging Holy Cross priests, Holy Cross House.
While the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the patron of Holy Cross priests, the community of sisters founded by Blessed Basil Moreau were entrusted to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Relics of Mary rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica, including strands of her hair and parts of her clothes.
On this feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, let us imitate Mary’s heart by sharing her faithfulness to Jesus!