"...heart-beats..."

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

 Today begins July, the Month of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, and I remembered a particularly beautiful chapter of Sister Lucia's book, "Calls from the Message of Fatima". Chapter 13 is entitled "The Call to devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary" in which Sister wrote this:

It is from the heart of their mother that children receive their natural life, their first breath, their life-giving blood, the beating of their heart…

The Christ's heart-beats are those of the heart of Mary, the prayer of Christ is the prayer of Mary, the joys of Christ are the joys of Mary; it was from Mary that Christ received the Body and Blood that are to be poured out and offered up for the salvation of the world...

With Christ in her womb, with Christ in her arms, with Christ at Nazareth, and in His public life; with Jesus Christ, she climbed the hill of Calvary, she suffered and agonized with Him, receiving into her Immaculate Heart the last sufferings of Christ, His last words, His last agony and the last drops of His Blood, in order to offer them to the Father...

I continue to ponder how Mary is Mother and Model for the Church. We too are called to have “heart-beats” in union with Jesus. We cannot have the unique union with Him that His physical Mother, Immaculately Conceived, had with Jesus, yet we are called by our Baptism to grow in union with Him in Love. He is our Way, our Truth and our Life, as He is for Mary and all the saints.

O Blood and Water that gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus, have Mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.