TWO HEARTS - ONE MISSION

Acrylic on archival quality masonite

The Blessed Mother and the Christ child are out on a beautiful late summer day to pick grapes from the vineyard. What appears to be simply a joyous outing in each other’s presence, when pondered, is so much more.

Mary’s apron is stained with the juice from the abundance of grapes that Jesus has placed in it. As she looks upon her Son who is God, her mind projects into the future when her young child will begin his mission and when her clothing will, one day, at the foot of the cross, be stained with the Blood of Christ and her heart pierced with 

a sword of sorrow.. 

These grapes that Christ picks  transport us to the Last Supper where Christ tells his apostles that he has longed for this moment as he fully embraces his mission. As he raises the chalice and says “This is my blood, the blood of the New and Everlasting Covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many.”

The poppies in the ffield represent Christ’s Sacrifice, and the lilies of the valley reflect their purity. The Christ Child has some grape juice stain over his heart. A heart that will be pierced and from where water and blood will gush out. “O blood and water which gushed forth from the heart of Jesus as a fountain of mercy for us 

I trust in you.”

How much we should love the Blessed Mother! From the moment of her ffiat she truly became a co redeemer with her Son. She had to remain with Him to help Him to die, to  console Him  and to be a loving  presence  for Him long before standing at the 

foot of the cross. 

As we have been reading the scriptures throughout Lent we can sense with dread, the hostility gaining speed. We recoil at the cunning of the Pharisees whose plots and pretenses are hard to endure. The Blessed Mother who followed Christ with the holy Women heard these offenses against her son and her God, which made her heart tremble with sorrow over their hardness of heart. After her shared agony 

with Christ at the foot of the cross, her mission flowered out into the church as 

she gathered the apostles, the disciples and the Holy Women around her like a Mother hen and she guided them throughout the birth of the church until her 

death and Assumption. 

Truly truly, Jesus and Mary were two hearts united in one Love and one Mission.  

How full our hearts must be!!”

Mary is still guiding her children today and will continue to do so with tenderness and urgent compassion for the conversion of all her children, every day until the end of the world. Truly, she is the Mother of all mankind.

•••