Dear Friends,

August 19th was the Feast day of St. John Eudes, a French Saint who lived in the 17th century. His parents Isaac and Martha were farmers. They wanted children desperately but were having a hard time conceiving. So they made a pilgrimage to a nearby Shrine dedicated to Mary Mother of God. They walked all day to get there. They prayed for a child. And they were heard, and John was born soon after. Five more children would follow.

The Eudes were a devout Catholic family. John learned from them a great love of Jesus present in the Eucharist, and he learned to have a deep devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. There’s a story from when he was very young. One day he went missing. His parents searched all day for him. They searched through the house, the barns, the fields, the woods, and down by the river. John was nowhere to be found. They feared the worst and in that frightening moment they went to church to pray. When they got there, they breathed a sigh of relief, they found their son. He had dragged a chair to the high altar, so that he could climb up onto the altar. So, there he was sitting on the high altar with his ear pressed against the tabernacle. “What are you doing John?” They asked. “I’m listening to Jesus.” He said.

John would go onto become a priest. He founded an Order called the Society of Jesus and Mary. Their purpose was to form and train future priests. John spent most of his time visiting parishes, raising money for his order, and preaching missions. His main lifelong message was this, “Our chief preoccupation must be to form Jesus in ourselves.” “Jesus is the source of all holiness.” We must make our heart His! We must make our heart His!

In the language of the Bible the heart is the inner depth of a person, its where all the great decisions of life are made, are we for God or are we against God. It’s the source of love and joy but also the source of grief and anxiety. It’s the source of thought, will, and conscience. And today in the Gospel Jesus is telling his people that their hearts are far from him. And the Lord always wanted their hearts. He wants our hearts. And if he has our heart, he has everything.

Now something that St. John Eudes would preach often about is that “Mary is the model of Christian life.” Mary is the one who gave her heart to God, more than anyone else.

At the Annunciation, the Angel Gabriel asked her, and I paraphrase, “Will you give God a human nature?” She answered with a full-hearted yes! So, then God took from this woman a human nature. And in this human nature He taught us, He sanctified us, and saved us.

Now for the rest of us, everyone who is reading this, God asks us a similar question, He asks, “Will you give me your human nature?” “Barb, will you give me your human nature?” “Roger, will you give me your human nature?” Will you give me your heart? To give him our human nature is to give Him our heart. It’s probably a question He asks of us every day. Today, “Will you give me your heart?”

He asks this because our Lord wants to continue His incarnation in each one of us; He wants to live his life in each one of us. As Mary gave him a human nature he continues His incarnation, He continues His presence by us, giving Him our human nature, giving Him our Heart. Our chief preoccupation must be to form Jesus in ourselves.

As St. John Eudes once wrote, Mary is the model of the Christian life. She gave herself totally to God. In our 2nd reading St. James tells us, “Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your soul.” This word is the word of Scripture, but also the Word made flesh. So after we receive Holy Communion as we walk back to our pew we are in a very real way like Mary. We have received Jesus’ body into our body we have become a living tabernacle, and we are carrying Jesus into the world. This is serious business and our Amen after receiving the Body and Blood of Christ means, “I stake my life on this!” So, if Mary is the model of the Christian life, then one way we can imitate her is in her prayer. And the prayer I’m thinking of is the prayer she prayed after receiving the Lord into her body and soul.

Soon after the Annunciation Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth and Elizabeth greets her with the words, “Blessed are you who believed” after hearing this Mary prays the Magnificat, a prayer of one who has totally given her heart to God. It begins with the words, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior.” She is giving her all to God. Maybe we make the Magnificat our prayer as well.

My prayer for us today is that we never tire of giving our Heart to Jesus, forming Him more and more in ourselves. Every time we profess the creed with faith, every time we receive the sacraments with faith, every time we do good, and every time we pray Jesus is formed more and more within.

Let us be great Saints,

Fr. Christopher J. Ankley