Fr. Roger J. Landry
Visitation Convent of the Sisters of Life, New York, NY
Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
June 9, 2018
Is 61:9-11, 1 Sam 2:1.4-8, Lk 2:41-51
To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below:
The following points were attempted in today’s homily:
- Yesterday with Catholics across the world, “O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto thine.” If we wish to have such a heart, we can learn so much from Mary, whose heart was the one that Jesus heard from the first moment when his human ears began to function. Today we say, with St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort and St. John Paul II who used to pray this every morning, “Praebe mihi cor tuum, O Maria!,” “Give me your heart, O Mary!” Today is a day on which we ponder what she said to the shepherd children in Fatima, that the solution to all of the problems that lead to atheistic communism, to the persecution of the Church, and ultimately to hell, that the solution to the sin that causes all of those, is consecration to her immaculate heart: totally entrusting ourselves to her, entering into her consecration to her Son and through her into his consecration to the Father for our sanctification.
- When we ponder Mary’s heart, we can do so with the help of the eight adjectives found in the Preface of the Votive Mass of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary taken from the most beautiful liturgical book in the Latin Rite: the Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Preface reads: “You gave the Blessed Virgin Mary a wise and obedient heart, that she might perfectly carry out your will, a new and gentle heart, in which you were well pleased and on which you inscribed the law of the New Covenant. You gave her an undivided and pure heart that she might be worthy to be the Virgin Mother of your Son and to rejoice to see you forever. You gave her a steadfast and watchful heart, so that she could endure without fear the sword of sorrow and await in faith the resurrection of her Son.” We can ponder each of the attributes:
- Wise — A heart like the young Solomon’s, because of her pondering and treasuring everything as pieces of a mosaic within. This is the type of heart that we see at the end of the Gospel, as Mary pondered all of what her Son said and did, treasuring it within.
- Obedient — A heart that hears the word of God and keeps it, that says fiat.
- New — A heart that is the fulfillment of God’s promises through Ezekiel to give us a new heart, taking away our stony hearts and giving us hearts of flesh, hearts that beat in love.
- Gentle — A heart that learns from her Son, who says, “Learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart.”
- Undivided — A heart that seeks above all God’s kingdom as the pearl of great price worth everything else, a heart that is a pure echo chamber of an Amen to all God’s desires.
- Pure — A heart that sees God, as her Son mentions in the Beatitudes, a heart full of God with no room for sin. Because her heart is pure and sees God it can rejoice, like we see in Hannah’s famous canticle which today takes the place of our Psalm, and which was one of the threads which which Mary weaved her Magnificat. A pure heart “exults in the Lord,” as Hannah said, and as Isaiah mentioned, “I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul.”
- Steadfast — A heart that perseveres through vicissitudes like the Seven Sorrows, and ultimately shown by standing at the foot of the Cross of her Son.
- Vigilant — A heart that awaits her Son’s resurrection with faith and hope and that awaits our responding to God’s graces until we, by God’s mercy, come to be with her forever.
- That’s a heart that Mary wants to give us. That’s the heart that will fulfill the prayer we made yesterday.
- It’s at Mass that Jesus responds to our prayers and gives a heart transplant, as we receive his heart and his whole body, blood, soul and divinity with in. This is how he makes our hearts like unto his.
The readings for today’s Mass were:
Is. 61:9 Their descendants shall be renowned among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; All who see them shall acknowledge them as a race the LORD has blessed. 10 I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul; For he has clothed me with a robe of salvation, and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, Like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels. 11 As the earth brings forth its plants, and a garden makes its growth spring up, So will the Lord GOD make justice and praise spring up before all the nations.
1Sam. 2:1 and as she worshiped the LORD, she said: “My heart exults in the LORD, my horn is exalted in my God. I have swallowed up my enemies; I rejoice in my victory. 4 The bows of the mighty are broken, while the tottering gird on strength. 5 The well-fed hire themselves out for bread, while the hungry batten on spoil. The barren wife bears seven sons, while the mother of many languishes. 6 “The LORD puts to death and gives life; he casts down to the nether world; he raises up again. 7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich, he humbles, he also exalts. 8 He raises the needy from the dust; from the ash heap he lifts up the poor, To seat them with nobles and make a glorious throne their heritage. He gives to the vower his vow, and blesses the sleep of the just. “For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he has set the world upon them.
Luke 2:41 Each year his parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, 42 and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. 43 After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. 44 Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45 but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, 47 and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. 48 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.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he said to them. 51 He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.
