Mary's Heart: A Living Forest

First Point: Mary is like a Mountain

Here in Pohnpei, everyone knows the blessing of rain. Rain gives life to rivers, forests, farms, and people. Without rain, not only do the land, trees, and plants suffer, but all of us earth beings who depend on water.

Yet when rain falls upon the mountains, the mountains receive it, hold it, and gradually release it through streams and rivers. Because of the mountains, the rain becomes a blessing for the whole island.

Today, on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I would like to use an image that the early Christians gave to Mary. Mary is just like the mountain, which receives the rain and provides fresh water for the whole island, so Mary received God's grace and gave the world Jesus, the source of living water.

God poured His grace upon her more abundantly than upon any other creature. Mary received that grace into her Immaculate Heart. She did not keep it for herself. Like the mountains that gather the rain and give water to the whole island, Mary received God's grace and allowed it to flow to the world.

Second Point: But Where Do the Mountains Get the Water?

In the first point, we compared Mary to the mountains of Pohnpei. The mountains receive the rain and provide water for the whole island.

But where do the mountains get the water? Ah! Here is where the role of Mary shines even more.

When I was on the plane coming here—from the Philippines to Guam, then Chuuk, and finally Pohnpei—I noticed something interesting. Whenever we flew over an island, there was often a cloud formation above it. It was as if each island was wearing a halo of clouds.

But do you know where I saw the biggest cloud formation? Above Pohnpei.

Why? Because the mountains of Pohnpei rise high into the sky. They draw the clouds, receive the rain, and become a blessing for the whole island.

Mary is like that. But Mary is not just any mountain. In the Psalms, we hear of the rich mountain of Bashan, a mountain blessed with abundance and fertility. Mary is like that rich mountain. Among all human beings, she received God's grace more abundantly than anyone else.

The mountains do not create the water but serve only as vessels. They channel water after receiving it from the clouds. Similarly, Mary did not create grace. God is the source of grace. But her heart was completely open to God. She received His gift more fully than anyone else.

That is why the angel could greet her: "Hail, full of grace." Her Immaculate Heart was rich with God's presence.

And because she received so much, she was able to give so much. Through her, Christ came into the world, just as life-giving water flows from the mountains to the whole island.

The lesson is simple: the more open our hearts are to God, the more His grace can flow through us to others.

Third Point: The Heart and Soul of the Mountains are the Trees

But the mountains need something for the clouds to form. What do you think that is?

The trees. The mountains can only act as water towers when they're covered by trees.

Your mountains are blessed because many of them are still covered with healthy trees. These trees are essential. They help attract and hold moisture. They protect the soil. They slow down the water when heavy rains come. The trees were important in the past. They are important today. And they may be even more important in the future.

In recent years, the weather has become less predictable. Strong storms have brought floods and landslides. In 1997, heavy rains triggered landslides that claimed the lives of 19 Pohnpeians. In 2018, extreme rainfall again caused flooding, landslides, and loss of life.

We know that rain is a blessing. But we also know that rain can become too much. When the forests are healthy, the mountains can better receive the rain and protect the people below.

The Immaculate Heart of Mary teaches us a similar lesson. If Mary is the rich mountain full of grace, what are the trees that filled her heart? They are her virtues: her faith, her humility, her obedience, her trust in God, and her love.

Like Mary, we also need these "trees" in our own lives. Just as forests protect the mountains from erosion and landslides, these virtues protect our hearts. When greed, selfishness, and pride replace them, both the land and the human heart become vulnerable to disaster.

Today, Mary invites us not only to admire her as a beautiful mountain, but also to grow the forest that filled her heart. Mary was not the source of grace; she was the rich mountain and living forest that received God's rain and let it flow to the world through Christ. Will we do the same with the blessings God gives us?

Amen. Fr JM Manzano SJ