Like all Claretian missionaries, I have always viewed the Heart of Mary as the focal point of love. This love empowers us to be sent forth as apostles. I have come to realise that Mary’s profound interior life is a wellspring of spirituality, vital for our missionary and apostolic vocation. Thus, there can be no formation of missionaries without a deep relationship with the Heart of Mary.
To understand Mary as a mother, disciple, and woman of her time, we must contemplate her Heart. We should be shaped by her fire of love. The Heart of Mary beats in unison with that of Jesus, allowing her to live with constant humility, attentive listening, and a greater openness to the Holy Spirit. For me, despite all the beautiful titles given to Mary, it is her Immaculate Heart that assures us she is always listening. It connects us with God and loves us with a mother’s tenderness.
Our world needs more men and women who, as Claret himself said, live the Cordi-Marian vocation, one that gives us a mother’s heart for our neighbour.
All of us have a mother and, as her sons and daughters, we know that her tenderness seeks solidarity, not division. In a world where many still need a family and a home, we need a maternal model that welcomes without favouritism, making no one feel superior or inferior, and at the same time, has a disciple’s heart for the Lord. A verse from the evangelist Luke that I particularly cherish is: “But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her Heart” (Luke 2:19). She continues to teach us humility in the face of the mysteries that a life of faith brings. She teaches us to say “yes” to God’s will and “no” to everything contrary to it.
Student Ho Quoc Vu, CMF
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