Mary's Pondering Heart

"And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart." (Luke 2:19)

"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 2:51)

The Pondering in her Heart of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is Contemplative Prayer par excellence. The Mother of our Lord said Yes to God, accepting the Son of God into her very flesh, participating in a physical way in the act of the Incarnation. In the face of all the things that happened to her in relation to her Son, she pondered. She did not doubt. She accepted Truth as it was spoken to her and in her. And yet, she reflected and she kept all that happened in her heart.

Light comes into darkness and the first streaks of dawn are seen by those who watch for it. Mary herself is the first soul to receive the fullness of salvation offered to all open to it by her Son. As she accepts Him, lives with Him, watches Him grow in wisdom and grace, she too grows. The Truth of Who He Is dawns upon her Faith.

Mary perseveres through the difficulties that come from opposition to her Son and she is with Him, still pondering, as He experiences His Passion. Her heart embraces Hope and she holds onto that Hope in the midst of the Disciples of her Son. As a Mother, she holds all her children in her heart and stays with them as they contemplate God's call in their lives as well.

The open, receptive, pondering heart of Mary is a reminder to all of the power of Prayer to accomplish great things. The heart pierced by a sword comes to understand the meaning of Suffering, and the thoughts of many hearts are laid bare, coming to a moment of Truth when it is acknowledged that All Things are Possible with God, and that only God's Grace can sustain us.

Mary's Fiat, from the Annunciation to the Pietà, flows from her Pondering Heart. May all her children learn from her to live in accord with God's Word, that His Will may be done in us.