Translate

Sunday, September 20, 2009

And Mary pondered all these things in her heart

Before beginning our first conference this evening, I would like to begin by dedicating this retreat to our Blessed Mother, under the title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. As Carmelites we love Mary. She is always with us in all of our thoughts, words and actions.

If we could look at her early years when she was visited by the Angel Gabriel, when perhaps she was about 16 years old, we would see a young girl who was totally open to whatever God would ask of her in the future. She said to God and the angel, be it done to me according to thy word. The future was only revealed to her a little at a time, piece meal. Her understanding of her role as mother of the Savior of all mankind grew through the years. There were periods of light, but also periods of darkness in which she had to totally trust.

As soon as she got the good news that Elizabeth, her kinswoman was pregnant, Mary left immediately to visit her. The trip of over a hundred miles was not easy for a young girl . Mary wanted to help Elizabeth, but I think that she also wanted to confide her own secret to an older woman with whom she felt comfortable and could trust. According to Luke's gospel, Elizabeth needed no explanation from Mary. Upon being greeted, she exclaimed, "Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me." The Holy Spirit took care of everything. Also Mary's role as Mediatrix became apparent, for the child in Elizabeth's womb leapt for joy. Jesus in embryo purifies and cleanses the infant in Elizabeth's womb from sin, the future John the Baptist.

When we pray the Joyful mysteries we realize that all was not joy and happiness for Mary. In the temple when Jesus was only 40 days old, Simeon predicted that this child would be rejected and a sign of contradiction and also that the heart of Mary would be pierced with a sword of sorrow. Soon after, Joseph had to take the child and his mother into Egypt - to flee into a foreign land where the future and their livelihood was uncertain. When Jesus was 12 years old and left behind in the temple, Mary and Joseph were filled with anxiety about what might have happened to him. Mary, even asks the question of Jesus why he did this to them. She doesn't understand the answer right away, but ponders all these happenings and words in her heart.

And that is the point I would like to emphasize tonight - that Mary pondered all these things in her heart. To ponder means to meditate upon and to pray over in order to come to a deeper meaning.. When Mary did this, it was slowly revealed to her the deeper meaning of God's word to her. We are here for retreat for the next couple of days. Let us unite our hearts with Mary's, imitating her trust in the Lord. Let us also ponder over God's word and what it means to us as pilgrims on the way to our destiny, the kingdom of God. Every life is filled with mystery. There are periods of light and periods of darkness when we have to trust in the goodness of God, when uncertainties and troubles abound. The Holy Spirit was always there with Mary to instruct her when she needed to know. So we pray for God's light in this retreat, and just as Mary went to Elizabeth to help her, we also ask her this evening to help each one of us. Mary help us to grow in trust and in love…and so we say, Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee, etc……amen….

Fr. Marvin Deutsch, M.M.

June 12, 2009

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please feel free to comment