The Church has accorded a place of honor to the Virgin Mary. She is perhaps the model disciple, the one who shows us how to listen to the word of her Son, to ponder it, and to make room for it in our lives.
People of faith have long known of the Church's observance of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart (on the Friday following the Solemnity of Corpus Christi), and the observance of the liturgical Memorial of the Immaculate (or Sacred) Heart of Mary (on the very next day).
Statues and images recalling this feast are often saccharin in their portrayal, but the truth of the matter is that this Memorial allows us to focus our thought and prayer on the inner life of Mary, just as the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart focuses our attention on the inner life of Jesus, on the love which he came to model for us, on the desire he has continually demonstrated for all of us, his disciples, to be close to him.
A healthy understanding of Mary's role and of her ability to love with a mother's love can help all of us to grow closer to Jesus, and after all, isn't that what it's all about?
People of faith have long known of the Church's observance of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart (on the Friday following the Solemnity of Corpus Christi), and the observance of the liturgical Memorial of the Immaculate (or Sacred) Heart of Mary (on the very next day).
Statues and images recalling this feast are often saccharin in their portrayal, but the truth of the matter is that this Memorial allows us to focus our thought and prayer on the inner life of Mary, just as the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart focuses our attention on the inner life of Jesus, on the love which he came to model for us, on the desire he has continually demonstrated for all of us, his disciples, to be close to him.
A healthy understanding of Mary's role and of her ability to love with a mother's love can help all of us to grow closer to Jesus, and after all, isn't that what it's all about?
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