What is it that you reflect on in your heart? Our Gospel reading today tells us that Mary, whose feast we celebrate today, reflected on all the things that happened surrounding the birth of her beloved son in her heart. I just love that detail. Mary’s most Immaculate Heart was filled with the wonders God was doing in her life and through her life. She treasured those memories and reflected on them in her heart. I think that is a wonderful spiritual model for all of us, her children.
We ought to reflect on things in our heart more than we do, I think. Certainly I know that’s the case for me. Because I find that when I take a moment to reflect on those things, I know how blessed I am and how much God loves me. Very often, I will sit off to the side of the sanctuary before Mass in quiet prayer. As I prepare for Mass, I like to take a moment to reflect on why I am there. The Eucharist that we celebrate is the feast of thanksgiving, and I want to make sure that I bring my heart to that place of giving thanks. When I do, I find myself reflecting on God’s blessings within my heart. Often it’s the blessing of being the pastor of this wonderful parish; I’m thankful for all the great characters here who help me to know that I am loved. I’m thankful for the volunteers that help make Mass happen here at Saint Mary’s. I’m also thankful for my family, my health, and for all the ways God takes care of me.
I want to suggest that reflecting on things in our heart might be a very solid resolution for the year ahead. Being thankful helps us to grow in faith: it helps us see God active in our lives and gives God the opening to work in our lives to bless others as well. Being thankful makes us happier people: pausing to reflect on the graces and blessings we have received helps us to know that, even in the midst of our hardest moments, God is working to pour out his love in so many ways. Being thankful helps us to make our world a better place. Gratitude is inspirational in that it helps us to know what makes us glad, and gives us the tools to make others glad and happy too. Thankful people are Eucharistic people: they bring the presence of our Lord to every person and circumstance of their lives. Reflecting on our blessings, holding them in our hearts, is a special treasure and one that we should not be so quick to dismiss.
Mary’s life wasn’t an easy one. It was going to be marked by hardship and sadness from the very moment she said “yes” to the angel Gabriel. She was going to have to move to a foreign country to escape the wiles of the tyrant who wanted to take her son’s life. She was going to have to follow her son’s ministry and watch as so many misunderstood him and dismissed him and wanted to be rid of him. She was, in fact, going to have to watch him suffer and die.
But Mary, full of grace, was going to also see so very much blessing. She was going to be the very first one to behold the Word of God as he came to life in her. She was going to be the very first to hold our Lord in her blessed hands. She was going to see the miracles, hear his radically inspirational preaching, and watch him change people’s lives. She was going to be among the first to behold the Resurrection and among those first disciples who brought the Church to birth.
There was a lot for Mary to reflect on in her heart: good things and sad things, but all things that changed the world and brought salvation to the lives of all who would receive it. Mary is the mother of God the Word, according to his human nature, and as the first to receive the grace of salvation, she was able to behold it all, to take it in, and to reflect on it in her heart.
If we want to make a real change in our lives in the year ahead, I think a good place to start is to follow the example of the Holy Mother of God and to treasure the graces and blessings that we receive in our heart. Let her example of contemplation stir up our hearts and give direction to our prayer and acts of service. The change that happens in us as we reflect with gratitude on the presence of God in our lives is one that can change our corner of the world.
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
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