In the Church’s calendar the day after the feast of the Sacred Heart is the feast day of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This stresses the closeness, the intimacy, between Our Lord and his Mother; we’re enabled to imagine his childhood (about which hardly anything is recorded) where he would have learnt the language of love from Mary; so heart speaks to heart. We also see Our Lady as the Mother of the Church, and a liturgical text talks of her loving the Church ‘with a mother’s love.’ This love should not be seen as sentimental: when Mary presents t
he baby Jesus in the Temple, the old man Simeon tells her that ‘a sword will pierce your heart’. Mary’s heart, Mary’s love, knows pain and suffering.
At this time so many in our world are in need of the mother’s love of Mary, shown in her Immaculate Heart; so we ask for her maternal and loving prayers today particularly for those suffering from Covid-19, those caring for them, and the bereaved.
God bless and take care
Fr Ashley
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