IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
Introduction
The celebration in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is closely linked to the solemnity of the Sacred Heart, which it follows by one day. This is not by accident. When we honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus we simply celebrate our Lord’s great love which he showed by dying for us and which he continues to give us day after day. Mary was close to her Son, not only because she was his Mother but because she loves everyone for whom her Son lived, died, and rose from the dead. Her heart is large enough to include us all in her love. She is with us in our sorrows and joys.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
we thank you for the love
with which you filled the heart of Mary,
the Mother of your Son and our mother.
In your great kindness you have given her to us
to open our hearts to your word and to your love,
so that we can seek your will in all we do.
May she also let our hearts be touched
by the needs of people with sorrows and cares.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Reading I: 2 Timothy 4:1-8
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,
who will judge the living and the dead,
and by his appearing and his kingly power:
proclaim the word;
be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient;
convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.
For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine
but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity,
will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth
and will be diverted to myths.
But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances;
put up with hardship;
perform the work of an evangelist;
fulfill your ministry.
For I am already being poured out like a libation,
and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have competed well;
I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.
From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me,
which the Lord, the just judge,
will award to me on that day, and not only to me,
but to all who have longed for his appearance.
Responsorial Psalm
My mouth shall be filled with your praise,
with your glory day by day.
Cast me not off in my old age;
as my strength fails, forsake me not.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
But I will always hope
and praise you ever more and more.
My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
I will treat of the mighty works of the Lord;
O GOD, I will tell of your singular justice.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
So will I give you thanks with music on the lyre,
for your faithfulness, O my God!
I will sing your praises with the harp,
O Holy One of Israel!
R. I will sing of your salvation.
Alleluia
Blessed is the Virgin Mary who kept the word of God
and pondered it in her heart.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Luke 2:41-51
Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,
and when he was twelve years old,
they went up according to festival custom.
After they had completed its days, as they were returning,
the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem,
but his parents did not know it.
Thinking that he was in the caravan,
they journeyed for a day
and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances,
but not finding him,
they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.
After three days they found him in the temple,
sitting in the midst of the teachers,
listening to them and asking them questions,
and all who heard him were astounded
at his understanding and his answers.
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.”
And he said to them,
“Why were you looking for me?
Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
But they did not understand what he said to them.
He went down with them and came to Nazareth,
and was obedient to them;
and his mother kept all these things in her heart.
Intercessions
Let us raise our hearts in prayer to God our Father and ask him to fill our world and our communities with the warmth of his love. We say: R/ Lord, hear your people.
– For the Church of Jesus Christ on earth, which is a community of weak people, that the power of God’s goodness may become visible in our love for one another, we pray: R/ Lord, hear your people.
– For our world with all its needs, that Mary may watch over it, pray for it and keep people from warring with one another and from making one another suffer, we pray: R/ Lord, hear your people.
– For people in lowly jobs, that they may learn from our humble Mother that God values all work done with love, we pray: R/ Lord, hear your people.
– For all missionaries, that like Mary, our dear Mother, we may give Christ to our world and have a heart loving all people and especially the poorest and the weakest, we pray:
– For all of us united here, that our faith may produce in us, as in Mary, fruits of genuine love for one another, we pray: R/ Lord, hear your people.
Our loving God, these are the things we ask of you today. Let Mary enrich our prayers with hers and give us every good gift through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Prayer over the Gifts
Generous and merciful God,
we are sure you accept our prayers wholeheartedly
when there is peace among us
and when we try to the best of our ability
to be one of heart and soul.
Help us in our weak efforts
on account of the prayers of Mary.
With her we offer you all honor and praise
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Preface: The Immaculate Heart of Mary (ICEL)
The heart of Mary is the heart of one who lives by the New Law.
Father, all-powerful and ever-living God,
we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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 for ever.
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.
With the whole company of the angels
we sing your praises
in their canticle of joy:
Holy, holy, holy Lord…
Prayer after Communion
Good and loving Father,
in this eucharist we have enjoyed
the food of life and the drink of joy
of your Son Jesus Christ.
Fill us with his Spirit of love,
that our love, like that of Mary,
may be reliable and lasting,
that no indifference may extinguish it,
no flood of impatience nor hatred may sweep it away.
Let it be a flame warming the hearts of people
and a fire burning for you
our living God, now and for ever.
Blessing
God has been very good to us. He has given us Jesus to save us from our inability to love God and neighbor. He has given us Mary to watch over us, to care for us, to pray with us and for us. Yes, Mary cares. Could our thanksgiving not be that we too learn to care for one another and to render all the service we can? May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go and, like Mary,
serve the Lord in one another. R/ Thanks be to God.
Reflection:
8 June 2024 – Immaculate Heart of Mary
Luke 2:41-51
Mary kept everything in her heart
The celebration in honour of the Immaculate Heart of Mary holds a profound significance in the Christian faith, closely intertwined with the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This connection is not coincidental. Mary, in her deep love for her Son Jesus, extends this love to all those, for whom her Son lived, died, and was resurrected.
It is important to remember and contemplate the Heart of Mary after having contemplated the meaning of the Heart of Jesus. We Christians have a lot to learn from Mary’s Heart. Mary isour teacher of the Christian life, who teaches us to give a complete and unconditional “YES” to the will of God. Like any of us, Mary also had to walk through that process of faith in which not everything was clear at the beginning.
The painful and anxious three days of searching would later repeat in the three days Mary lived through from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. Not everything was clear to her. However, Mary “kept everything in her heart,” with faith and trust. Mary’s heart teaches us not to lose hope and to meditate God’s Word in our hearts to discern the will of God.
Saint Anthony Mary Claret, a 19th-century Spanish missionary, propagated the devotion ofthe Immaculate Heart of Mary. He founded the religious congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, also known as the Claretian Missionaries. St. Claret composed the following prayer to Mary, which is inscribed in his chapel in Spain:
O Heart of Mary, furnace and instrument of love, enkindle me with the love of God and my neighbour.