Immaculate!

It's only fitting in my Catholic World, that the day after we embrace the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we look to the Immaculate Heart of Mary to help us understand how we are to love one another and BE LOVED as well. Yesterday's reflection offered the challenge that the our hearts should BE like Jesus'... Celebrating, moving and breaking at the things that touch the heart of Christ. Today the Church celebrates the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and while our heart remains focused on Christ and His will for our hearts, we also rejoice in the good news that WE ARE LOVED!

Something that popped up this morning in prayer is that... And this is gonna sound strange to "Joe Six Pack"... Not only does God call us to use our hearts to love one another, but in His love, He POSSESSES our hearts for all eternity! In fact, in the spirit of today's celebration, God possesses our hearts like a Mother possesses her child.

We are God's people, the sheep of His flock! (Psalm 100) We are not possessed like prisoners, but are so much a part of our creator that we have a place! His love helps us belong to something so much greater that ourselves! For example, in our lives, our knowing that we are always attached in some way to our mother, the one who loved us from the start, offers some connection and I hope comfort for all. As the song goes, because of this reality, "we are family"! I am sensitive, however, to the reality that not all parental relationships are as golden as the Scripture would offer, so I understand how this analogy might fall short for some. But, in the most positive sense of the Word, God's love as seen in Mary's love for her Son, and hence us (the ones that He loves so much) begins with knowing that we belong, and that we have a place.

There are no conditions to being loved by God, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a glowing example of that reality. Just know that we are not called to love without first being loved ourselves. Mom loves you, and so do I!