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| “The Immaculate Heart of Mary” artist is UNKNOWN |
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible (Gospel of the day is used)
Note: In the United States
When Isaac was so old that his eyesight had failed him,
he called his older son Esau and said to him, "Son!"
"Yes father!" he replied.
Isaac then said, "As you can see, I am so old
that I may now die at any time.
Take your gear, therefore–your quiver and bow–
and go out into the country to hunt some game for me.
With your catch prepare an appetizing dish for me, such as I like,
and bring it to me to eat,
so that I may give you my special blessing before I die."
Rebekah had been listening
while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau.
So, when Esau went out into the country
to hunt some game for his father,
Rebekah [then] took the best clothes of her older son Esau
that she had in the house,
and gave them to her younger son Jacob to wear;
and with the skins of the kids she covered up his hands
and the hairless parts of his neck.
Then she handed her son Jacob the appetizing dish
and the bread she had prepared.
Bringing them to his father, Jacob said, "Father!"
"Yes?" replied Isaac. "Which of my sons are you?"
Jacob answered his father: "I am Esau, your first-born.
I did as you told me.
Please sit up and eat some of my game,
so that you may give me your special blessing."
But Isaac asked, "How did you succeed so quickly, son?"
He answered,
"The LORD, your God, let things turn out well with me."
Isaac then said to Jacob,
"Come closer, son, that I may feel you,
to learn whether you really are my son Esau or not."
So Jacob moved up closer to his father.
When Isaac felt him, he said,
"Although the voice is Jacob's, the hands are Esau's."
(He failed to identify him because his hands were hairy,
like those of his brother Esau;
so in the end he gave him his blessing.)
Again he asked Jacob, "Are you really my son Esau?"
"Certainly," Jacob replied.
Then Isaac said, "Serve me your game, son, that I may eat of it
and then give you my blessing."
Jacob served it to him, and Isaac ate;
he brought him wine, and he drank.
Finally his father Isaac said to Jacob,
"Come closer, son, and kiss me."
As Jacob went up and kissed him,
Isaac smelled the fragrance of his clothes.
With that, he blessed him saying,
"Ah, the fragrance of my son
is like the fragrance of a field
that the LORD has blessed!
"May God give to you
of the dew of the heavens
And of the fertility of the earth
abundance of grain and wine.
"Let peoples serve you,
and nations pay you homage;
Be master of your brothers,
and may your mother's sons bow down to you.
Cursed be those who curse you,
and blessed be those who bless you."
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Commentary on Gn 27:1-5, 15-29
This passage brings us to Isaac’s deathbed. In this selection we hear the plot of Rebecca and Jacob to trick Isaac into giving his final blessing to Jacob, cheating his twin brother Esau out of it. This action is condemned in other parts of scripture (see Hosea 12:3 and Jeremiah 9:3) and is punished by God by separating Jacob and his mother. This action shows how God takes even the weak and undeserving and uses them to His greater glory.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 135:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6
R. (3a) Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the name of the LORD;
Praise, you servants of the LORD
Who stand in the house of the LORD,
in the courts of the house of our God.
R. Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;
sing praise to his name, which we love;
For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,
R. Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!
or:
R. Alleluia.
For I know that the LORD is great;
our LORD is greater than all gods.
All that the LORD wills he does
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and in all the deeps.
R. Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!
or:
R. Alleluia.
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Commentary on Ps 135:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6
Psalm 135 is a song of praise and thanksgiving. The reference in the second strophe is to God choosing Jacob which he did at the birth of the twins telling his mother “the older shall serve the younger”.
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Gospel: Luke 2:41-51
Each year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem
and when he was twelve years old,
they went up according to festival custom.
After they had completed its days, as they were returning,
the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem
but his parents did not know it.
Thinking that he was in the caravan,
they journeyed for a day
and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances,
but not finding him,
they returned to Jerusalem
After three days they found him in the temple,
sitting in the midst of the teachers,
listening to them and asking them questions,
and all who heard him were astounded
at his understanding and his answers.
When his parents saw him,
they were astonished,
and his mother said to him,
"Son, why have you done this to us?
Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety."
And he said to them,
"Why were you looking for me?
Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"
But they did not understand what he said to them.
He went down with them and came to Nazareth
and was obedient to them;
and his mother kept all these things in her heart.
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Commentary on Lk 2:41-51
From the Gospel of St. Luke we have the story of Jesus in the Temple
This story is at odds with the Apocryphal Gospels (such as the Gospel of St. Thomas) that attributed to Jesus many miracles during his early years, this story paints his childhood as fairly normal, the implication based on Joseph and Mary’s reaction is that they, at this point, do not completely understand their son’s mission.
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Reflection:
Yesterday’s celebration of the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is joined appropriately with today’s Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Yesterday we rejoiced in the love our Savior has for us. Today, his Mother, our Mother, Mary, reminds us that he expects to be loved by us in return. Even as we know that we can never earn the love of Christ, that we can never receive it on our own merits, we know that our love of Jesus must be made clear.
Today we reflect not just in prayer by in a very pragmatic way about how we can accede to Mother Mary’s fervent hope and example. She demonstrated for us how that love could be shown. She was the first to believe in him. Her actions most closely echoed his command to love one another. She clearly loved the Lord with such intensity and passion that her heart was pierced at his death as Simeon had predicted.
We cannot hope to rival the love of the Theotokos, the Mother of God, in her love for her Son. We may have difficulty finding the intense emotional attachment to the Lord she showed us so naturally. But we can demonstrate our love for Him through our actions.
Think for a moment about how others know we love our parents or our siblings or even our close friends. We do things for them that please them. We spend time with them and we behave in ways that make them happy, sharing our joy and our sorrow.
Using that simple model, that is how we show our love for Jesus. That is the beaconing call of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We do things that please the Lord, we praise His Father (he always enjoys that), and we act in ways that tell others “Oh, they must be Christians”. We serve others, because the Lord’s life and His Mother’s were dedicated to serving others. And we spend time with the Lord, as much time as possible. We talk with him in prayer, not just to ask for things like a spoiled child or and ungrateful friend, but talking to him about the things we have been able to accomplish with his help and about our joys and sorrows. Finally we spend time with him physically in his gift of the Eucharist and Eucharistic Adoration. Is this not the way we act with those we love?
Scripture tells us that Mary, Most Holy loved the Lord like no one else could and in her Immaculate Heart we see that example, clear for us to follow. Let us today be revitalized by that plea and embrace the Lord with our actions.
Pax
[1] The Picture is “The Immaculate Heart of Mary” artist is UNKNOWN
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
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