The Way of Our Lady

“Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart.” – Luke 2:19

I am sure that our curious minds would sometimes like to know more details about Our Lady: what was she like growing up in Nazareth? How did she speak to her Son, Jesus? What stories did she share to the Apostles?

Not much is written about the life of Mary in scripture, except those few accounts where she is mentioned in relation to Jesus. It’s interesting though, that St. Luke writes this very special phrase in his gospel account, not just once but again in 2:51, “And his Mother kept all these things in her heart.” The first was mentioned after the Shepherds’ visitation to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, and the second is after finding the child Jesus in the temple. He says the same thing twice, without adding a single thing.

What could St. Luke be telling us about her? We read in his gospel exactly what we need to know – that she lived an intense interior life. Unlike us, who can sometimes get so caught up in nostalgically thinking about the past, or letting our imagination get the best of us, she experienced God first-hand and pondered the meaning of these events. In other words, she meditated on these things, grew in wisdom and understanding, and reflected on her vocation in light of God’s will.

She is a true teacher of the interior life and this “way of Our Lady” should be ours too. Contemplation is essential to growing in faith. Our daily lives are filled with opportunities to look for God and find him.

Beginning with the moment we wake up, we should be offering our day to His divine will. We can look for Him in our encounters with our coworkers, our bosses, our friends. The little inconveniences like a broken air-conditioner or misplaced car keys can be offered up for love of Jesus. We have to look for God in everything we encounter, and then like Our Lady, ponder Him in our hearts.