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[2 Chronicles 24:17-25 and Luke 2:41-51]

     He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.  [Luke]

     The same spirituality that fostered devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus also gave rise to a similar devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  A mother's heart beats for and in each child!   The Gospel According to Luke twice makes mention of Mary keeping events and circumstances about Jesus "in her heart."  This is mentioned in Luke 2:19, after the visit of the shepherds to the manger site after Jesus' birth, and in the passage above after the anxious lost and found incident when Jesus stayed behind after his parents had left Jerusalem.  The scene of the presentation in the temple could be included when Simeon promises Mary that the life of her son will mean a sword in her own person. [Luke 2:34]

     Marian devotion in Catholic tradition is rich and is just as complicated as any mother-child relationship.  Exaggerations do occur and have created difficulties that were featured in the Protestant Reformation.  At the same time, God's providence in choosing a young Palestinian Jewish woman to be an instrument in the plan of salvation must be kept in front when telling the story of Jesus.  Mary is not an incidental person.  The celebration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary may seem sentimental to some, but the sheer fact that she gave birth to Jesus remains before us.  The celebration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary is not about a physical organ but about two persons to whom we owe everything.  Yes, Mary's life must be seen in the light of Jesus' life but we see her life in the Church and accept her important intercessory care in the Communion of Saints.  The rosary serves as a reminder of this, as do the various liturgical celebrations in her honor.  Today is one of those reminders.  AMEN