In celebrating Mary's immaculate heart, we celebrate her single-heartedness and her sinlessness.

Today, we bring up another dimension of Mary's heart, a dimension that is hinted at at the end of today's Gospel reading, namely, her pondering heart: "his mother kept all these things in her heart" (Lk. 2:51)

Mary faced several situations she did not understand. We are told explicitly this much at the Nativity and in the episode narrated in today's Gospel reading. Implicitly, we are told the same when she hears Simeon's prediction when her Son appears to be telling her at the Cana wedding, "Dear Woman, that's not our problem" (Jn.2:4). Later, she hears Jesus say, 'who is my mother?' and most of all, at the foot of the cross, when Jesus says, "Dear woman, here is your son" (Jn.19:26). But Mary kept moving on without understanding, but pondering in her heart.

Her steadfastness and single-heartedness were not based on external evidence but on trust. Her pondering in her heart without understanding had led her not to need to understand - how could a mother understand that her innocent Son was being cruelly executed? Being sure and being assured are not the same thing. Being sure speaks of understanding, which rests on evidence. Being assured speaks of an inner stance, which rests on trust. Mary was assured, even when she could not be sure.