First reading Isaiah 61:9-11
I exult for joy in the Lord
Their race will be famous throughout the nations,
their descendants throughout the peoples.
All who see them will admit
that they are a race whom the Lord has blessed.
‘I exult for joy in the Lord,
my soul rejoices in my God,
for he has clothed me in the garments of salvation,
he has wrapped me in the cloak of integrity,
like a bridegroom wearing his wreath,
like a bride adorned in her jewels.
‘For as the earth makes fresh things grow,
as a garden makes seeds spring up,
so will the Lord make both integrity and praise
spring up in the sight of the nations.’
Responsorial Psalm 1 Samuel 2:1,4-8
My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour
My heart exults in the Lord.
I find my strength in my God;
my mouth laughs at my enemies
as I rejoice in your saving help.
The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the weak are clothed with strength.
Those with plenty must labour for bread,
but the hungry need work no more.
The childless wife has children now
but the fruitful wife bears no more.
It is the Lord who gives life and death,
he brings men to the grave and back;
it is the Lord who gives poverty and riches.
He brings men low and raises them on high.
He lifts up the lowly from the dust,
from the dungheap he raises the poor
to set him in the company of princes
to give him a glorious throne.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
on them he has set the world.
Gospel Luke 2:41-51
Mary stored up all these things in her heart
Every year the parents of Jesus used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up for the feast as usual. When they were on their way home after the feast, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents knowing it. They assumed he was with the caravan, and it was only after a day’s journey that they went to look for him among their relations and acquaintances. When they failed to find him they went back to Jerusalem looking for him everywhere.
Three days later, they found him in the Temple, sitting among the doctors, listening to them, and asking them questions; and all those who heard him were astounded at his intelligence and his replies. They were overcome when they saw him, and his mother said to him, ‘My child, why have you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you.’
‘Why were you looking for me?’ he replied. ‘Did you not know that I must be busy with my Father’s affairs?’ But they did not understand what he meant.
He then went down with them and came to Nazareth and lived under their authority. His mother stored up all these things in her heart.
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A life consumed by love
Today, as we celebrate the memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we are invited to contemplate the heart of Mary and see that it is full of love and trust in God. In the gospel, when she and Joseph found Him sitting with the religious teachers at the Temple, she asked Him, “My child, why have you done this to us?”—the question “why” at the Temple was not the one that she uttered. Surely, many events in her life happened beyond her understanding that led her also to ask, “why”. For example, when God called her and entrusted her to be the mother of His Son, when the Prophet Simeon told her that her heart would be pierced with sorrows, when she followed Jesus around in His mission and felt the tensions between Him and the religious leaders and when she stood at the cross of Her Son and watched Him died, etc. Yet, Mary did not waver in her love and trust in God.
Let Mother Mary inspire us to have a heart that keeps on trusting and loving God as we journey through the ups and downs of life.
Reflective question:
Is my heart like Mary’s?
Is my heart like Mary’s?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year B” by Sr Maria Jose FMVD.
