{"id":1829,"date":"2026-05-31T15:40:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T15:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/salesian.id\/?p=1829"},"modified":"2026-05-31T15:40:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T15:40:31","slug":"mary-example-of-an-open-and-giving-heart-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salesian.id\/index.php\/2026\/05\/31\/mary-example-of-an-open-and-giving-heart-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary, example of an open and giving heart"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

THE MESSAGE OF THE RECTOR MAJOR, Fr Fabio Attard, SDB<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With God dwelling in us, like Mary, we see ourselves as called and sent <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary arose and went in haste (Lk 1:39).<\/em> Few words, yet full of meaning. Through these simple and decisive gestures, the inner structure of a heart that has truly allowed God to dwell within it is revealed. Mary\u2019s departure is not for just any kind of journey; it is the response of a life of recollection\u2014of a soul that, having learned to listen and to discern, then moves to respond. After having lived through the experience of the Annunciation, Mary does not stop to process what has just happened to her. Mary does not close herself within the intimacy of her own experience\u2014an extraordinary and profound one\u2014keeping it to herself. On the contrary, she allows herself to be molded and guided by the Word. She sets out to go to another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary\u2019s is a spiritual movement: she lovingly took in the Word, and now it is the Word dwelling within her that directs her toward her neighbor. Those who truly love, as a consequence of feeling loved by God, forget themselves and place themselves at the service of others. Mary teaches us that openness of heart is not an optional virtue, but rather the very way in which God\u2019s love takes shape in the life of one who believes in Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Openness: Moving Beyond a Narrow Vision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With God dwelling in us\u2014like Mary\u2014we see ourselves as being called and sent forth. Mary\u2019s actions stand in contrast to a view of life built upon an unavailable “self,” closed in upon itself. When we choose to observe the world solely from a narrow observation point, we run the risk of arriving at the conclusion that our own opinion contains the whole truth. This is the longstanding temptation: to reduce reality to what we have already seen, measured, and planned. Our own way of thinking and seeing becomes the sole and exclusive measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary shows us that openness of heart is, first of all, an emptying of one\u2019s own selfishness. When we remain closed off\u2014rather than allow ourselves to be guided by charity\u2014we lose the movement of the heart which receives God\u2019s gift to then reach out to our neighbor. True openness of heart is not a human decision; it is, before all else, a grace \u2013 one that must be invoked, freely received, safeguarded, and exercised every day. We cannot truly reach out to others\u2014in a full, free, and joyful sense\u2014unless we allow God to be alive within our hearts. May He be the One to make us open – opening wide our eyes to what transcends our own small and poor human logic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emptying oneself is the first form of love<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a culture like ours, there is always the subtle risk of self-reference\u2014the belief that we construct our own identity by looking only at ourselves, as into an ever-smaller mirror. Mary bears witness to a different way of looking at life: she re-positions her entire existence toward the presence of the Word within her heart, and subsequently, toward Elizabeth\u2019s need. It is a choice that regards the need of one\u2019s neighbor as a calling, as the fruit of one\u2019s relationship with God. And it is for this very reason that she sets out in haste to one in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True availability has, at its roots, the courage to question oneself and to renounce one\u2019s self\u2014even when this appears to be a loss. It is not a matter of ostentatious generosity, but rather of an inner freedom born from having discovered that I can be myself only by giving of myself to another in a radical way. Here, an open and available heart is not the winning of a trophy, but an act of abandonment to the Will of the Father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not an act of kindness, but an obedience to God who dwells in our heart<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary does not go to Elizabeth because she believes from a human standpoint alone that her elderly cousin is in need of help. Her visitation to her cousin is not merely an act of kindness; rather, it is the presence of the Son who, within her womb, is conforming His Mother to Himself. Mary\u2019s journey to Elizabeth is the mission of God Himself, taking the form of a journey toward the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary\u2019s visit is a mission born of the Son\u2019s coming into her life. When Jesus truly becomes a part of our lives, everything we are and do flows from this single source. Mission springs forth from the personal encounter with Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unconditional Availability: Beyond the Results<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the face of Mary\u2019s free and generous choice, our desire to imitate her is marked by a very subtle yet ever-present temptation: that of wanting to see what kind of results our choices yield. Mary, who immediately sets out on her journey, conveys to us the decision of a heart that is already full\u2014one that seeks no security or certainty outside of itself. For the true measure of a mission, and of its success, lies in its living relationship with the Word that dwells within it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary, Icon of a Free Heart \u2013 Word, Faith, and Charity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cardinal Martini offers us a reflection that is brief, yet profound and essential: the Word is the seed, faith is the womb that receives it, and charity is the fruit that is born. Mary is the woman who lived this dynamic in its fullness: with humility, she welcomes the Word; with faith, she rises and goes in haste; with charity, she gives of herself. Her \u201cgoing in haste\u201d conveys that gesture of charity which mirrors a heart that is free and liberating, illuminated by the Word that sustains her faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An open and available heart is not merely a heart that is sentimentally good; rather, it is a heart that has learned to dwell within the tension between the proclamation received and embraced, and the brothers and sisters who await it; between interior grace and the road to travel; between the mystery of God and the concrete reality of human need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary teaches us that we need not wait until we have understood everything before we set out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE MESSAGE OF THE RECTOR MAJOR, Fr Fabio Attard, SDB With God dwelling in us, like Mary, we see ourselves as called and sent  Mary arose and went in haste (Lk 1:39). Few words, yet full of meaning. Through these simple and decisive gestures, the inner structure of a heart that has truly allowed God to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tak-berkategori"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesian.id\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesian.id\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesian.id\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesian.id\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesian.id\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1829"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/salesian.id\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1831,"href":"https:\/\/salesian.id\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1829\/revisions\/1831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesian.id\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesian.id\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesian.id\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesian.id\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}