The classic saying is "To Jesus through Mary" but as we celebrate the Immaculate Heart of Mary today, it seems a time to ask where do our hearts fit in the great scheme of things. After all, while Mary's Heart is more similar to ours than Jesus, it is still unique, preserved from the stain of original sin; ours unfortunately were not. This does not however mean that our situation is hopeless.
If we look closely at the human heart, we find that the matter of sin is more simple than we think. The number of sins are fewer than we think. This is not to say that our sin does not take countless forms. The forms of sin are many. But if we look closely we discover that no matter what form the sin takes (greed, lust, envy, etc.) Underneath they are all simply manifestations of one sin, egoism, a constant turning toward the self.
Mary's Immaculate Heart was preserved from this. When she gave her "Fiat" to God, "Let it be done unto me", she gave it with the freest of free wills.
Luckily for us we too can find freedom. While it is true that we live the daily struggle and face the constant temptation to turn toward ourselves, and put ourselves first, God has given us also the help we need to win the struggle and overcome the temptation.
Our hearts were first made clean on the day of our baptism. Our that day we were washed clean of original sin. We also have available to us the constant river not only of love but of grace that flows from the Sacred Heart of Jesus. When we re-stain our hearts, we can always have them washed clean in the Sacrament of Penance, for the grave sins, and for the venial sins we have the grace we receive in the Eucharist. And while all the saints in heaven intercede for us, the greatest is the Mother of Jesus, our Mother, whose Immaculate Heart loves each of us and through that Immaculate Heart of Mary that river flows, because her heart is perfectly united with the heart of her Son.
Can we surrender? Can we allow our own hearts to no only be washed clean but to be enveloped in the Immaculate Heart of Mary and in the Sacred Heart of Jesus? Only then will we experience true freedom in our actions, in our words, and even in our thoughts.
The possibility is ours.
