Handmaid of the Lord

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin, exhort us to live in trust in God as exemplified by the faith of Mary.

St Mary's Bascilica

The reading from the Second Letter of Timothy is a Solemn Charge to proclaim the message.

* [4:1–5] The gravity of the obligation incumbent on Timothy to preach the word can be gauged from the solemn adjuration: in the presence of God, and of Christ coming as universal judge, and by his appearance and his kingly power (2 Tm 4:1). Patience, courage, constancy, and endurance are required despite the opposition, hostility, indifference, and defection of many to whom the truth has been preached (2 Tm 4:2–5).

* [4:3] Insatiable curiosity: literally, “with itching ears.”

* [4:6] The apostle recognizes his death through martyrdom to be imminent. He regards it as an act of worship in which his blood will be poured out in sacrifice; cf. Ex 29:38–40; Phil 2:17.

* [4:7] At the close of his life Paul could testify to the accomplishment of what Christ himself foretold concerning him at the time of his conversion, “I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name” (Acts 9:16).

* [4:8] When the world is judged at the parousia, all who have eagerly looked for the Lord’s appearing and have sought to live according to his teachings will be rewarded. The crown is a reference to the laurel wreath placed on the heads of victorious athletes and conquerors in war; cf. 2 Tm 2:5; 1 Cor 9:25. (2 Timothy, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB, n.d.)

The reading from the Prophet Isaiah proclaims God’s Word of Promise.

* [61:10–11] The new life of the restored Zion is expressed in nuptial (cf. also 62:5) and agricultural (cf. v. 3; 60:21) imagery. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 61 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 71 is a prayer for Lifelong Protection and Help.

* [Psalm 71] A lament of an old person (Ps 71:9, 18) whose afflictions are interpreted by enemies as a divine judgment (Ps 71:11). The first part of the Psalm pleads for help (Ps 71:1–4) on the basis of a hope learned from a lifetime’s experience of God; the second part describes the menace (Ps 71:9–13) yet remains buoyant (Ps 71:14–16); the third develops the theme of hope and praise. (Psalms, PSALM 71 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, Mary finds the Boy Jesus in the Temple.

* [2:41–52] This story’s concern with an incident from Jesus’ youth is unique in the canonical gospel tradition. It presents Jesus in the role of the faithful Jewish boy, raised in the traditions of Israel, and fulfilling all that the law requires. With this episode, the infancy narrative ends just as it began, in the setting of the Jerusalem temple.

* [2:49] I must be in my Father’s house: this phrase can also be translated, “I must be about my Father’s work.” In either translation, Jesus refers to God as his Father. His divine sonship, and his obedience to his heavenly Father’s will, take precedence over his ties to his family. (Luke, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, n.d.)

Nancy Shirley comments that Mary was incredible in her acceptance of divine conception with all the possible implications for a young girl/woman at that time.  Her ability to not only accept but to truly embrace the situation is exemplary and Mary’s canticle leaves no doubt as to her faithfulness even if all the implications were not totally understood: 

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. As the alleluia verse states: Blessed is the Virgin Mary who kept the word of God and pondered it in her heart. Even the gospel helps us to see that while Mary did not completely understand, she kept all these things in her heart.  The Virgin Mary provides the example for me to trust and believe even when I don’t entirely understand, having faith that God’s plan is the best plan for me.  I recall hitting my knees many years ago praying to Mary when I was concerned about my son’s safety and begging for her protection of my son even though she knew the grief of losing her son. She continues to be my “go-to” and safety net, finding great comfort in the arms of my Mother. This song says it all: Hail Mary, Gentle Woman (Shirley, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 2:41-51 comments that Luke’s account of the finding of Jesus in the Temple tells us a lot about Mary’s immaculate heart.

Here’s another way you can relate to Mary: her search for the missing Jesus can mirror your own search for him. Every time you pray, receive Christ in the Eucharist, or try to discern his will, you are undertaking that search. And experience tells you that you don’t always end up finding him right away!

Holiness doesn’t mean finding Jesus immediately; it means persisting in the search. And for us who are not immaculately conceived, holiness does not mean moral perfection. It means being quick to confess when we fall to sin and humbly accepting God’s mercy and the grace to change.

So be like Mary and keep seeking Jesus, no matter now messy life gets!

“Holy Mary, be with me through the ups and downs of life.” (Meditation on Luke 2:41-51, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the setting in 2 Timothy of Paul in prison sensing his life being poured out as libation. Docetism and Gnosticism were present at this time in the community. As a Jewish boy of 12, Jesus' introduction to adulthood involved speaking with the elders in the Temple. Friar Jude connects Jesus' disappearance to the Temple for three days as a foreshadowing to Mary of His three days in the tomb at Easter.

 

James Finley offers recommendations for how to pray the Jesus Prayer while “putting all other thoughts aside”.

St. Symeon tells the practitioner to “try to put all other thoughts aside.” This is important because when we sit and pray in this way, it isn’t as if all other thoughts politely step back so we can do this. They don’t. What happens is that our thoughts are circling around the edges, and they keep making inroads into our practice. We’re sitting there praying, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,” and we think, “Oh geez, I forgot to call Aunt Mildred!” We are praying, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,” and the thought pops in, “I wonder what’s for lunch?!” We do our best.  

Every time the slippage into thoughts other than the Jesus Prayer occurs, it’s a graced opportunity to circle back around to God being in love with us in our inability to do this. The stillness of this prayer is not a stillness that we perfect in our ability to sit still. The stillness is an inner stillness in which God is unexplainably transforming us into the love of God in our nothingness without God. We’re stilled by it, and there’s a kind of quiet amazement, in awe of the grace that’s unfolding within us in the midst of all the unresolved things in our heart. [2] (Finley, n.d.)

We identify with the anxiety of Mary in her search for Jesus in Jerusalem and we seek the consolation of the Holy Spirit as we strive to live in relationship with Christ.

References

Finley, J. (n.d.). The Jesus Prayer: Weekly Summary. CAC Daily Meditations. Retrieved June 8, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-jesus-prayer-weekly-summary/ 

Isaiah, CHAPTER 61 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 8, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/61 

Luke, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 8, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/2?41 

Meditation on Luke 2:41-51. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved June 8, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/06/08/992164/ 

Psalms, PSALM 71 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 8, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/71?8 

Shirley, N. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved June 8, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/060824.html 

2 Timothy, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved June 8, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2timothy/4?1 

Kept in the Heart

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, encourage our thanksgiving, prayer for reversal of fortune, and patience and faith in the promises of Christ.

St Mary Basilica

The reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah is thanksgiving for God’s Deliverance righteousness and praise.

* [61:10–11] The new life of the restored Zion is expressed in nuptial (cf. also 62:5) and agricultural (cf. v. 3; 60:21) imagery. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 61, n.d.)

The response from 1 Samuel 2 is Hannah’s Prayer on reversal of fortune.

* [2:1–10] Hannah appeals to a God who maintains order by keeping human affairs in balance, reversing the fortunes of the arrogant, who, like Peninnah, boast of their good fortune (vv. 1, 3, 9) at the expense of those like Hannah who receive less from the Lord. Hannah’s admission places her among the faithful who trust that God will execute justice on their behalf. The reference “his king ... his anointed” (v. 10) recalls the final sentence of the Book of Judges and introduces the kingship theme that dominates the Books of Samuel. (1 Samuel, THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is found in the Temple after three days.

* [2:41–52] This story’s concern with an incident from Jesus’ youth is unique in the canonical gospel tradition. It presents Jesus in the role of the faithful Jewish boy, raised in the traditions of Israel, and fulfilling all that the law requires. With this episode, the infancy narrative ends just as it began, in the setting of the Jerusalem temple.

* [2:49] I must be in my Father’s house: this phrase can also be translated, “I must be about my Father’s work.” In either translation, Jesus refers to God as his Father. His divine sonship, and his obedience to his heavenly Father’s will, take precedence over his ties to his family. (Luke, CHAPTER 2, n.d.)

The Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries for June 17, 2023 is missing today and a reflection on yesterday’s readings is available.

The Daily Scripture net does not offer a reflection on the texts for the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the USCCB first reading from 2 Corinthians that declares there is no longer Jew or Gentile. The trip to Jerusalem for Passover, one of three pilgrimage feasts, results in Jesus being found in the Temple talking with the religious leaders after three days. Friar Jude notes that Mary holds this event in her heart and Luke uses it as a foreshadowing of Jesus' three days in the tomb.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Professor and Sister of St. Joseph Catherine Nerney who shares a prayer practice that strengthens our compassion for ourselves, one another, and the world. The Hindu blessing of Namaste, which has become universalized, reminds us that “when I am in that place of the Divine in me and you are in that place of the Divine in you, there is only one of us.”  For this purpose, Thich Nhat Hanh and other Buddhist practitioners recommend that we regularly engage in a Compassion Meditation that is also known as metta or loving-kindness.… Take a few moments to let yourself be drawn into this contemplative practice for your good and others. Picture in your mind’s eye, try to encounter as vividly as possible, someone for whom you feel deep love and unity. Let him or her be there with you as you express these desires.

May you be happy. 

May you be blessed. 

May you be free and peaceful. 

May you be ever loved. 

May you be always loving. (Rohr, 2023) 

We are aided in our desire to understand the message of Mary to followers of Christ by the enlightenment of the Spirit as we ponder the Word and Tradition.

References

Isaiah, CHAPTER 61. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 17, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/61 

Luke, CHAPTER 2. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 17, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/2 

1 Samuel, THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 17, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1samuel/0 

Rohr, R. (2023, June 17). One Reality: Weekly Summary — Center for Action and Contemplation. Daily Meditations Archive: 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/one-reality-weekly-summary-2023-06-17/ 

Lamentations and Learning

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the anxiety that sometimes accompanies the love that we have for each other.

Care and learning

The reading, chosen by the USCCB, from the Book of Lamentations describes the Lord’s Wrath and Zion’s Ruin.

* [2:1–22] This chapter continues to move between the voice of the poet (vv. 1–20) and that of personified Zion (vv. 20–22). The persona of the poet, first portrayed in chap. 1 as a detached observer recounting both the desolation as well as the sins of the city, becomes in this chapter an advocate for Zion in her appeal to the Lord and never once mentions her sins. (Lamentations, CHAPTER 2, n.d.)

The reading, chosen by the CCCB, is from Isaiah 61.9-11 and declares the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

Psalm 74 is a plea for help in times of national humiliation.

* [Psalm 74] A communal lament sung when the enemy invaded the Temple; it would be especially appropriate at the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. Israel’s God is urged to look upon the ruined sanctuary and remember the congregation who worshiped there (Ps 74:1–11). People and sanctuary are bound together; an attack on Zion is an attack on Israel. In the second half of the poem, the community brings before God the story of their origins—their creation (Ps 74:12–17)—in order to move God to reenact that deed of creation now. Will God allow a lesser power to destroy the divine project (Ps 74:18–23)? (Psalms, PSALM 74, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, Mary and Joseph find the boy Jesus in the Temple.

* [2:41–52] This story’s concern with an incident from Jesus’ youth is unique in the canonical gospel tradition. It presents Jesus in the role of the faithful Jewish boy, raised in the traditions of Israel, and fulfilling all that the law requires. With this episode, the infancy narrative ends just as it began, in the setting of the Jerusalem temple. (Luke, CHAPTER 2, n.d.)

Eileen Burke-Sullivan comments that Mary had to discern, to think about and pray about this event (along with others) to begin to understand something of what the Angel Gabriel had said to her about who Jesus was and is. So must the whole Church ponder in our hearts what it is that Jesus is asking of us through the signs of the times.  Through the confusions and conflicts of our day.  Through the divisions and distortions of certitude that have been too easy at other times in Christian life. How do we know how to love God, which is the central work of the Church, and the dilemma of our day?  To love means to know and follow the Divine Will – which is EVER NEW and constantly revealed anew in the signs of the times?

We can be faithful only by discerning God’s desire and seeking to follow it at whatever personal cost.  To do that we must ponder in our hearts, prayerfully listening and weighing events, attentively guided by the Spirit discovering anew what God’s Will is for each of us and for all of us together.  Mary stands today as the perfect expression of the Church – attentive, loving, patient, occasionally confused, sometimes anxious, but eager to be faithful to the love she has been given.  As members of Christ’s Body, the Church, we ponder with Mary all these things in our hearts and act as faithfully as we can in love. (Creighton U. Daily Reflection, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 2:41-51 notes that we know how anxiety, if left unchecked, can lead to sin. It can give way to angry outbursts; it can make us fold in on ourselves and begin mistrusting people; it can make us think that God doesn’t care about us, so why should we care about him? Surely Mary was tempted in these ways, but she never gave in. She didn’t belittle or upbraid Jesus when she found him. She didn’t harbor bitterness against him. And she didn’t lose her temper when he offered what might have seemed at first like a disrespectful response. Mary did the one thing God wants each of us to try to do when anxiety looms: she “kept all these things in her heart” (Luke 2:51).

As she is in so many other ways, Mary is our model for how to respond when anxiety threatens to overwhelm us. We may not have pure, immaculate hearts like hers, but we can still try to refocus our attention on the Lord and his love. We can still bring our anxieties to our heavenly Father and ask him to help us make sense of them. And there, in the sanctuary of our hearts, we can find Jesus again. “Immaculate Mary, help me keep my heart as peaceful as yours was." (Meditation on Luke 2:41-51, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that the images of mourning from Lamentations parallel the image of Mary who shared in the wound of Jesus. Of the two infancy narratives in Luke and Matthew, the teenage Jesus in the Temple only appears in Luke. Friar Jude notes how Jesus does what he is supposed to do in his culture from age twelve to thirty.

Rev. Daniel E. Pilarczyk comments that the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary commemorates the love of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. Love is not the same as affection or liking somebody. Love means reaching out for the well- being of another--means to do good for another.

When we say that Mary loves us we’re speaking about her determination to do what is good for us, to lead us where Jesus wants us to go. Mary loves us because Jesus loves us and wants to bring us to salvation. She loves us when we have sinned and need to be brought back into the embrace of Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners. Keep loving us! Keep bringing us closer to the Lord. (Sharing the Word for June 25, 2022, 2022)

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that Buddhist author Valerie Mason-John encourages us to remain emotionally sober by practicing a detox of the heart, allowing ourselves to experience waves of emotion and let them go.

If we are to detox our hearts, build up our heart muscles, and become happier, we must cultivate mindfulness in everything we do. . . . With the presence of awareness we can see there is no need to hold on to or push away our thoughts, feelings, and emotions. They will come and go of their own accord. If we push them away or cling to them they will stay in our hearts and accumulate. Similarly, if we allow our thoughts to be like clouds in the sky, they will pass. Even the dark, heavy clouds eventually pass. (Rohr, n.d.)

We seek the enlightenment of the Spirit for times when our loving concern for those close to us may generate confusion and distress.

References

Creighton U. Daily Reflection. (n.d.). Online Ministries. Retrieved June 25, 2022, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/062522.html 

Lamentations, CHAPTER 2. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 25, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/lamentations/2?2 

Luke, CHAPTER 2. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 25, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/2?41 

Meditation on Luke 2:41-51. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved June 25, 2022, from https://wau.org/meditations/2022/06/25/419978/ 

Psalms, PSALM 74. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved June 25, 2022, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/74?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Emotional Sobriety: Weekly Summary. Daily Meditations Archive: 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/emotional-sobriety-weekly-summary-2022-06-25/ 

Sharing the Word for June 25, 2022. (2022, June 25). Franciscan Media. Retrieved June 25, 2022, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/sharing-the-word/sharing-the-word-for-june-25-2022