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TODAY’S WORD…

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Mary kept all these things,

pondering them in her heart.

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– Luke 2:19

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…and His mother

kept all these things in her heart.

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– Luke 2:51

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REFLECTION…

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Two very similar verses, in the same chapter of this Gospel,

underline the significance that Sant Luke sees in our Lady’s demeanour.

He appears to want to emphasise

this beautiful attitude of our heavenly mother, as something we should emulate.

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These two recorded instances do tell us a great deal about our Lady.

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We see the serenity with which she contemplates

the wonderful things that are coming true, through the birth of her divine Son.

She studies them, ponders them

and stores them in the silence of her heart.

She is a true teacher of prayer.

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If we imitate her,

if we guard and ponder in our hearts what Jesus says to us,

what he teaches us and what He does in us,

we shall never lack His doctrine and His grace.

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Also, by meditating in this way

we shall obtain a deeper understanding of the mystery of Christ.

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QUOTE…

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“The Mother of God

is our unsurpassable model […].

Mary’s silence […]

is more than a simple silence;

it is wonder,

it is adoration;

it is a "religious silence",

a being overwhelmed by the reality.

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The truest interpretation of Mary’s silence

is that which is had

in the ancient Byzantine icons,

where the Mother of God

opens herself motionless,

with her gaze fixed,

her eyes wide open,

as if she had seen things

that cannot be repeated in words.

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Mary, first raised to God

what Saint Gregory Nazianzen called

a ‘hymn of silence.’"

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– Padre Raniero Cantalmessa

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PRAYER…

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Sweet Mother of God,

teach me

how to kneel,

to adore,

to be silent,

in the presence of your Son.

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Thank you sweet mother.

I love you, O sweetest Mother.

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Amen.

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