“Father, you prepared the heart of the Virgin Mary to be a fitting home for your Holy Spirit. By her prayers may we become a more worthy temple of your glory.”
Opening Prayer, June 12 Liturgy
What an invitation to simplicity this prayer is. God prepared Mary’s heart to be a “fitting home.” How simple that sounds and reachable for us as a goal. And, the prayer continues “may we become a more worthy temple for God’s love.” More worthy. Not perfect. Not sinless. Simply more worthy.
This prayer captures the spirit of today’s celebration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a sometimes quizzical title for a glorious celebration. An “immaculate heart”? If I think of an immaculate house as one that is uncluttered and clear of debris, then I can see that Mary’s uncluttered heart was clear of anything other than her joy in giving glory to God.
Mary lived with her feet planted firmly in this world, and yet with her heart directed to God. She wasn’t protected from the pains and challenges of this world. Instead she entered into them to the fullest and trusted in God.
That’s just what we are invited to do in the celebration of Mary’s uncluttered heart and in today’s gospel. Jesus isn’t urging us to live our lives swearing by heaven and making a flashy show of our devotion. Instead Jesus encourages us simply to carry out the vows we have made to the Lord. “Let your word be ‘Yes’ if ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ if ‘No.’ ” In other words, keep it simple and honest. Trust in God that we don’t need to wrap our promises in grandiose language and impossible goals. God will love and care for us regardless of how we ask.
Today we celebrate with Mary her unclutteredness and her simplicity as she proclaims in her prayer, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord” and we, along with her, let our word be, Yes.
Maureen McCann Waldron
The most important part of my life is my family – Jim my husband of 47 years and our two children. Our daughter Katy, a banker here in Omaha, and her husband John, have three wonderful children: Charlotte, Daniel and Elizabeth Grace. Our son Jack and his wife, Ellie, have added to our joy with their sons, Peter and Joseph.
I think family life is an incredible way to find God, even in (or maybe I should say, especially in) the most frustrating or mundane moments.
I am a native of the East Coast after graduating in 1971 from Archbishop John Carroll High School in suburban Philadelphia. I graduated from Creighton University in 1975 with a degree in Journalism and spent most of the next 20 years in corporate public relations in Omaha. I returned to Creighton in the 1990s and completed a master’s degree in Christian Spirituality in 1998.
As our children were growing up, my favorite times were always family dinners at home when the four of us would talk about our days. But now that our kids are gone from home, my husband and I have rediscovered how nice it is to have a quiet dinner together. I also have a special place in my heart for family vacations when the kids were little and four of us were away from home together. It’s a joy to be with my growing family.
Writing a Daily Reflection is always a graced moment, because only with God’s help could I ever write one. I know my own life is hectic, disjointed and imperfect and I know most of us have lives like that. I usually write from that point of view and I always seem to find some sentence, some word in the readings that speaks right to me, in all of my imperfection. I hope that whatever I write is in some way supportive of others.
It’s an incredibly humbling experience to hear from someone who was touched by something I wrote. Whether the note is from someone across campus or across the world, it makes me realize how connected we are all in our longing to grow closer to God.
