Well, it is the last day of May. Being Mary’s month it ends with a special feast day dedicated to her– the Visitation, of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth (who is pregnant with St. John the Baptist). It also happens to be the day after the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Everything is connected. Yesterday’s trip to the National Shrine was a much needed pilgrimage for me. And I found that all three of these three feast days converged.
The Holy Spirit formed the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the most pure womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her Immaculate Heart it was that gave the full consent. In fact, St. Augustine says that Mary conceived Christ in her heart before she conceived him in her womb. Therefore when Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth, she is bringing with her the Sacred Heart of Jesus, both physically and spiritually.
She visited me yesterday…
We had already planned to go to the National shrine of the Immaculate conception for the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. But on Thursday, the night before, as I was surfing the net I came across news about Our Lady of America. Recently I’ve been noticing references to Our Lady of America so I decided to check it out. I clicked on this link. I came to learn that Our Lady appeared to a nun in the United States in the 50s and promised amazing things. Blog post on that coming up soon. So it turns out that the statue that Mary desires to be formally placed in the National Shrine, is currently at the John Paul II Cultural Center–next door! A good 45 minutes before noon Mass at the shrine, we spent time in front of the statue. I was captivated, I fell head over heels. She is so beautiful— I just sat there. Peace engulfed me as I was drawn to her Immaculate Heart and her message of purity.
Her heart prepared mine for Holy Mass so that I could devoutly consume the Sacred Heart of Jesus…under the appearance of bread. The Sacred Heart of Jesus–God’s Human Heart–my salvation, nourishment, love and desire. What an unfair exchange–I give him my heart and he gives me his! The hearts of Jesus and Mary are mine. That my heart would be transformed! In his homily at Mass, Monsignor shed light upon those words of Jesus: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me”: a yoke was also used as a teaching tool for oxen as they plowed the ground– on one side of the yoke, an older ox and on the other side, a younger.
Praised be the Sacred Heart of Jesus to the Immaculate Heart of Mary! Everywhere she goes she brings with her the Sacred Heart of her Divine Son.