Heart Made New
“So whoever is in Christ is a new creation:
the old things have passed away;
behold, new things have come.”2 Cor. 5:17
Yesterday we celebrated the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and today we celebrate the Immaculate Heart of Mary. While Jesus’ heart was physically pierced for love of us, Mary’s heart was spiritually and emotionally pierced for love of us. Mary was told that a sword will pierce [her heart] “so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:35). Imagine what Mary’s heart went through — joy at the birth of Jesus, worry at Herod’s efforts to kill Jesus, concern when Jesus went missing, relief when Jesus was found in the Temple, sadness and worry when Jesus left her side to preach and heal, anguish when Jesus was falsely accused, heartbroken when Jesus was physically abused, shattered as nails were driven into Jesus’ hands and feet, pain as Jesus hung on the Cross, sorrow as she held Jesus’ dead body in her arms, hope and joy as Jesus appeared after His Resurrection. All that Mary’s heart experienced and felt was in connection to Jesus. Mary’s heart was united with Jesus’ heart.
Of any human beings ever lived, I think it is safe to say that Mary knew Jesus best. All that Jesus suffered, Mary suffered too, but in a different way. Mary met all the conditions of discipleship — she denied herself (she lived for Jesus), she picked up her cross (look at the above paragraph), and she followed Jesus everyday. Mary is the first and greatest disciple of Jesus, and she serves as a model for us. When we wonder how we can be a better disciple, all we have to do is look to and at Mary — she pondered and “kept all these things in her heart” (see Luke 2:51). Mary joined her heart to Jesus, even as it was pierced. We too must do the same because it was Jesus’ pierced heart that gave us life.
In Jesus, our hearts have been made new. By joining our hearts to Mary’s and Jesus’, our hearts will no longer beat for ourselves and for our own good, but for Jesus and for our brothers and sisters and their good — the truest meaning of love. When we allow our hearts to be made new by the Sacred Heart of Jesus and moved and taught by the Immaculate Heart of Mary we will be able to follow the Lord unreservedly, leading us to live fully and freely, and as a result, to love as Jesus has loved us.
