OUT OF SIGHT BUT NOT OUT OF HER HEART

Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Lk 2:41-51

To think that the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph lost the Child Jesus sounds almost like a sin. How could Mary and Joseph lost Jesus? The thought of it seems to make any believer shudder. The Blessed Mother and St. Joseph must have panicked!

But the parents of Jesus lost Him because He decided to be left behind in the temple. The loss of Jesus was not the fault of either Mary or Joseph. Neither was it the fault of Jesus. It was the consequence of Jesus’ mission to be busy in His Father’s “business”. In Jesus’ fulfilling the will of His Father in heaven, His parents here on earth had to endure many trials. The Gospel today tells us only one of the many trials that parenting the Son of God entailed. By enduring the difficult consequences of their Son’s obeying the will of God, Mary and Joseph shared in Jesus’ mission. Losing Him here may be seen in the positive light of obedience to the will of the Father. The Father allowed Mary and Joseph to lose Jesus so that Jesus might find the lost.

In doing the mission that God has given each of us, there comes a time when the people closest to us, our loved ones and friends, are called upon to suffer. By their suffering, they come to share in our mission.

The Blessed Mother played this role in the life and mission of her Son, Jesus Christ. She was a sharer in His sufferings and many times had to suffer on account of His mission to redeem humankind from sin and death. She was able to participate in the mission of the Lord because she kept her heart free for Him. Her heart was Jesus’ alone. Her Son did not only belong to her; she belonged to Him. As His mother, she did not only pass on life to Jesus; Jesus was her very life.

As we celebrate the memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, let us remember three ‘M’ to keep our hearts like that of Mary:

M – Meekness. Let us strive to be humble always, bowing low before the will of God even if it entails sufferings in this life.

M – Modesty. Let us struggle to be pure in every way, mindful that our hearts belong to Jesus, only Jesus, always Jesus.

M – Magnanimous. Let us learn to be generous, noble, upright, and loving in all things, doing everything as an act of love for God.
Mary, together with Joseph, once lost the Child Jesus but found Him again in the Temple because He never left her heart. For three days, Jesus was out of her sight, but not out of her heart.