Madonna and Child, Art by Bradi Barth
Today’s Gospel
LK 2:16-21
and the infant lying in the manger.
When they saw this,
they made known the message
that had been told them about this child.
All who heard it were amazed
by what had been told them by the shepherds.
And Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart.
Then the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen,
just as it had been told to them.When eight days were completed for his circumcision,
he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel
before he was conceived in the womb.
On this feast of Mary the mother of God, I would like to emphasize specially the word today’s Gospel associates with her: treasured. “Mary treasured these things and reflected on them in her heart.” She pondered them, turned them over, sought out their causes, saw their implications, allowed them to work their way into the marrow of her bones.
Bl. John Henry Newman said that this treasuring quality of Mary makes her the patroness of theology. He furthermore observed that theology is one of the marks of a healthy Catholicism. Augustine, Aquinas, Bonaventure, Dante, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Newman himself, and John Paul II are all Marian figures in this sense.
So when you know your mission, be astonished by what God has done, and never stop treasuring it.
~ By Bishop Robert Barron
My Carmel 