When we experience something extraordinary often we just stutter as we struggle with words or even become speechless after having been so overwhelm by such an enormous surprise! After such a stressing experience, looking for the lost Jesus for three days, she can’t help but ask Jesus, “why have you done this to us?” The pain of a mother looking for her son.
Jesus however seemingly indifferent about the emotions of Mary responded, “why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Twelve years after the announcement of angel Gabriel the true identity of Jesus as the Son of the most High, Mary, possibly had forgotten Jesus’ purpose too, in all the days and years of being a mother to this young God/man. From the Annunciation, to the Magnificat, to the Presentation of our Lord to this moment, lots of mothering days and moments occurred. She bonded with Him as a mother should, loved him and cared for him, so much so that even these enormous moments in her history with this young lad could be buried deep in another realm not part of the real mechanics of daily life. And with such a question, “why were you looking for me?” everything comes back to her, such a huge reality that the God who took flesh living as one with the humanity, and her response was silence “as she kept all these things in her heart.”
Our world today is filled with so many noise that keeping all these things in our heart is a rare occasion for each of us. We often (if not always) do the talking. Even in our prayer we do most of the time the talking especially in moment of great anxiety, pain or feeling of a seemingly “absent God”. “Lord, why have you done this to us?” We forget that prayer is about relating to God not necessarily talking but keeping our mouth shut and listening to what he wants us to be.
When a mother relates to her newborn baby, she doesn’t do the talking. By just being there by her child’s side, she does relate to him/her. No talking but relating. When visiting a seriously sick friend/loved ones, our presence is enough even without talking to him/her. Our presence speaks for us, it’s our way of relating in a deeper way. This is Mary’s way of relating to Jesus. “She kept all these things in her heart.”
On the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we are reminded to be as pondering as Mary when we encounter bitterness, anxiety, pain, problems because God has a better plan for us. He sees far wider than what we can see, and he knows far better than what we can think of. Mary’s fiat, her “yes” is our model in dealing with God’s enduring presence in our lives. Allowing God to be god in our lives.
Jesus however seemingly indifferent about the emotions of Mary responded, “why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Twelve years after the announcement of angel Gabriel the true identity of Jesus as the Son of the most High, Mary, possibly had forgotten Jesus’ purpose too, in all the days and years of being a mother to this young God/man. From the Annunciation, to the Magnificat, to the Presentation of our Lord to this moment, lots of mothering days and moments occurred. She bonded with Him as a mother should, loved him and cared for him, so much so that even these enormous moments in her history with this young lad could be buried deep in another realm not part of the real mechanics of daily life. And with such a question, “why were you looking for me?” everything comes back to her, such a huge reality that the God who took flesh living as one with the humanity, and her response was silence “as she kept all these things in her heart.”
Our world today is filled with so many noise that keeping all these things in our heart is a rare occasion for each of us. We often (if not always) do the talking. Even in our prayer we do most of the time the talking especially in moment of great anxiety, pain or feeling of a seemingly “absent God”. “Lord, why have you done this to us?” We forget that prayer is about relating to God not necessarily talking but keeping our mouth shut and listening to what he wants us to be.
When a mother relates to her newborn baby, she doesn’t do the talking. By just being there by her child’s side, she does relate to him/her. No talking but relating. When visiting a seriously sick friend/loved ones, our presence is enough even without talking to him/her. Our presence speaks for us, it’s our way of relating in a deeper way. This is Mary’s way of relating to Jesus. “She kept all these things in her heart.”
On the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we are reminded to be as pondering as Mary when we encounter bitterness, anxiety, pain, problems because God has a better plan for us. He sees far wider than what we can see, and he knows far better than what we can think of. Mary’s fiat, her “yes” is our model in dealing with God’s enduring presence in our lives. Allowing God to be god in our lives.
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