(Saturday Following the Second Sunday After Pentecost)
Note: On this feast, the Gospel from the Proper is proper
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| “The Immaculate Heart of Mary” Artist and Date are UNKNOWN |
Commentary:
Reading 1: 2 Timothy 4:1-8
Commentary on 2 Tm 4:1-8
The Apostle begins this chapter with a solemn injunction to St. Timothy: “…perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry.“ St. Paul warns that the task will be difficult, and that false teachers will arise with competing doctrines and “self-serving myths.”
He concludes this passage with a clear view that he will soon be martyred, and feels he has done what the Lord has asked (“I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith”). Confident in God’s mercy he awaits his own judgment and resurrection.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 71:8-9, 14-15ab, 16-17, 22
R. (see 15ab) I will sing of your salvation.
Commentary on Ps 71:8-9, 14-15ab, 16-17, 22
Psalm 71 is an individual lament (of an old person: “Cast me not off in my old age”). These strophes begin the second part of the psalm in which the singer proclaims the hope of the faithful, and trust in God’s mercy.
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Gospel: Luke 2:41-51
Commentary on Lk 2:41-51
This passage begins St. Luke's account of the presentation of Jesus in the temple by his parents, in accordance with Jewish law. It is significant from a number of perspectives. First the story breaks the scriptural silence regarding the “lost years” of Jesus’ growth from infancy to adulthood. This story says Jesus is twelve. That would be the time when he would have celebrated his bar miswah, after which he would have been considered a man.
St. Luke's description is at odds with the Apocryphal Gospels (such as the Gospel of St. Thomas) that attributed to Jesus many miracles during his early years. This account paints his childhood as fairly normal. The implication, based on Joseph's and Mary’s reaction, is that, at this point, they do not completely understand their son’s mission.
CCC: Lk 2:41-52 534; Lk 2:41 583; Lk 2:46-49 583; Lk 2:48-49 503; Lk 2:49 2599; Lk 2:51-52 531; Lk 2:51 517, 2196, 2599
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Reflection:
Yesterday’s celebration of the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is joined appropriately with today’s Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Yesterday we rejoiced in the love our Savior has for us. Today, Jesus’ mother, our mother Mary, reminds us that he expects to be loved by us in return. Even as we know that we can never earn the love of Christ, that we can never receive it on our own merits, we know that our love of Jesus must be made clear to the world.
Today we reflect, not just in prayer but in a very pragmatic way, about how we can accede to Mother Mary’s fervent hope and example. She demonstrated for us how love of the Lord could be shown. She was the first to believe in him. Her actions most closely echoed his command to love one another. She clearly loved the Lord with such intensity and passion that her heart was pierced at his death, as Simeon had predicted (Luke 2:25-35).
We cannot hope to rival the love of the Theotokos, the Mother of God, in her love for her Son. We may have difficulty finding the intense emotional attachment to the Lord she showed us so naturally. But we can demonstrate our love for him through our actions. We can hope that at the end of our lives we can say, as St. Paul says to St. Timothy: “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.”
Think for a moment about how others know we love our parents, our siblings, or even our close friends. We do things for them that please them. We spend time with them, and we behave in ways that make them happy, sharing our joy and our sorrow.
Using that simple model is how we show our love for Jesus. That is the beckoning call of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We do things that please the Lord, we praise the Heavenly Father (he always enjoys that), and we act in ways that tell others: “Oh, they must be Christians.” We serve others, because the Lord’s life and his mother’s life were dedicated to serving others. And we spend time with the Lord, as much time as possible. We talk with him in prayer, not just to ask for things like a spoiled child or an ungrateful friend, but talking to him about the things we have been able to accomplish with his help, and about our joys and sorrows. Finally we spend time with him physically, receiving his gift of the Eucharist, and at Eucharistic Adoration. Is this not the way we act with those we love?
Scripture tells us that Mary, Most Holy, loved the Lord like no one else could, and in her Immaculate Heart we see that example, clear for us to follow. Let us today be revitalized by that plea and embrace the Lord with our actions.
Pax
[1] The picture is “The Immaculate Heart of Mary” Artist and Date are UNKNOWN
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