Daily Gospel Reflection
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June 20, 2020
Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
Conformity vs. nonconformity — how do I follow Jesus?
In today’s gospel passage, which describes the fifth joyful mystery of the rosary, Luke offers us food for thought on this timeless question. By making the long journey on foot from Nazareth to Jerusalem every year for the Passover festival, Mary and Joseph observed the customs of the Law, thus passing their faith traditions to the maturing, adolescent Jesus.
The wise-beyond-his-years Jesus jarred his saintly parents with the visceral fear of not knowing a child’s whereabouts. The gripping fear ultimately resolved, releasing raw relief and even greater joy in finding him. Jesus’ nonconformity to his parents’ expectations, the arduous searching, and the seemingly pointless travel back to Jerusalem functioned to give them a newfound appreciation of their exceptional son. As the father of 7 teenagers, a tween, and a seven-year-old, I speak from personal experience on how interrelated parental fear and joy can be!
Nonetheless, after this challenge, our inspired evangelist, Luke, clearly wants us to know Jesus’ choice of obedience to his parents’ loving human authority.
Wrestling with a pandemic and racial injustice, we struggle mightily with whether to conform to the edicts of lawful authority or question and challenge the direction they take us. Compliance with austere public health measures has resulted in significant economic repercussions and the curtailment of personal liberties balanced against our collective effort to curb the spread of the virus. The process of challenging authority in the wake of George Floyd’s tragic death has led to both meaningful peaceful protests and more destructive actions, such as rioting. When making the choice to conform or not, we must examine our hearts in light of the Holy Family’s example. They grounded their choices in loving, selfless attention to the welfare of others. Let us strive to do the same.
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.
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!