To be like Jesus, is to imitate the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The month of August is dedicated to the honor of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.Why is the Heart of the Blessed Mother so worthy of our emulation?Because it is the perfect model of how to follow our Lord.

The Immaculate Heart of Mary “treasured [the things of Christ] and pondered upon them” (Luke 2:19).If we want to become more like Christ in our lives, then we cannot “unconsciously” be a Catholic.We need to be like Our Lady and make time to contemplate the many mysteries of faith that we encounter in our daily lives.Each time we receive or witness any of the sacraments, each time we pray, each time we receive a grace from God, each time we encounter the cross of suffering…each of these moments allow us an opportunity to ponder like Mary and delve deeper into the love of Christ.If we allow time to “treasure these things in [our] hearts,” the fruit of it can only be a greater intimacy with Our Lord!

Our Lady’s pure and immaculate Heart is an undivided heart, totally and absolutely directed to God and for God.The Blessed Virgin is the “wisest of virgins” who keeps her lamp of faith not just burning, but passionately burning brightly for her singular love, Jesus.Because her heart is undivided, she has no room for sin.She possesses the fullness of grace, which is God’s divine life in her.And therefore, the opposite of grace has no part in her.Our struggle in life is to also have an undivided heart for the Lord: to not be distracted by the temptations that come from Satan, the world, and even ourselves that try to make us substitute something else for our Lord Jesus.To imitate the all-pure heart of the Blessed Mother means that we dedicate each second of our lives to living through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ.To model ourselves after the Immaculate Heart of Mary means that we realize that Jesus has to be our “all-in-all,” otherwise we are and have nothing.And when we have realized that we have replaced our Lord with anything else through sin, we can ask for His grace through the sacrament of Penance to make our heart undivided and pure again.

And finally, Our Lady’s heart not only thinks about God and is singularly directed to God, it is a heart that moves her will and her entire being to “doing the Father’s will.”Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart is a prime example to us of faith in action.She believes and she acts.She believed the Archangel’s message, so she says “yes” to God’s plan for the Incarnation.She believes the sign that is told to her, so she quickly visits her cousin Elizabeth who is in need.She trusts her Son, so she counsels the headwaiter to “do whatever He tells you.”She loves her Son totally, so she remains with Him even beneath the cross of crucifixion.The ultimate act of emulation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is doing the will of God.This begins fundamentally by keeping the commandments, which is a proof of our love for God.

In this month of August, commit to imitating the Heart of Our Lady: 1) make time to reflect on how you and God encounter each other every day; 2) declutter your heart from the things that block you from having a more intimate life with our Lord Jesus; and 3) do God’s will by keeping His commandments.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!d