The 2nd aspect of Mother Teresa's consecration prayer is indeed a union-like alignment of hearts. It is a consecration covenant.
To understand what this means to Mother Teresa, we need to understand their Albanian culture of "besa" - which is very similar to our Filipino "palabra de honor". She explains it in this manner:
"[Besa] means even if you have killed my father and the police are after you, if I have given you my word, then even if the police kill me, still I will not disclose your name."
I like how Scott Hahn, scripture scholar, distinguishes a contract from a covenant:
"[A] major difference between contracts and covenants may be discovered in their very distinctive forms of exchange. A contract is an exchange of property in the form of goods and services ('That is mine and this is yours'); whereas a covenant calls for the exchange of persons ("I am yours and you are mine"), creating a shared bond of interpersonal communion."
Similar to a marital covenant (ideally!) where husband and wife enjoy each other's "self-giving love", they also have the obligation to take care of each other "through thick and thin", "through good times and bad." That is the kind of consecration covenant Mary offers and maybe even better - more than just a two-way street relationship, it is a deeper, more complete union of hearts and souls.
Thus, when we are consecrated to Mary, we can walk confidently knowing that, even without asking, she will take care of our every need and concerns - because, having been united with her, our concerns become her concerns as well.
"... when we give Mary our "yes", she begins to arrange all the events and details of our lives in such beautiful, tender, and loving ways."
To understand what this means to Mother Teresa, we need to understand their Albanian culture of "besa" - which is very similar to our Filipino "palabra de honor". She explains it in this manner:
"[Besa] means even if you have killed my father and the police are after you, if I have given you my word, then even if the police kill me, still I will not disclose your name."
I like how Scott Hahn, scripture scholar, distinguishes a contract from a covenant:
"[A] major difference between contracts and covenants may be discovered in their very distinctive forms of exchange. A contract is an exchange of property in the form of goods and services ('That is mine and this is yours'); whereas a covenant calls for the exchange of persons ("I am yours and you are mine"), creating a shared bond of interpersonal communion."
Similar to a marital covenant (ideally!) where husband and wife enjoy each other's "self-giving love", they also have the obligation to take care of each other "through thick and thin", "through good times and bad." That is the kind of consecration covenant Mary offers and maybe even better - more than just a two-way street relationship, it is a deeper, more complete union of hearts and souls.
Thus, when we are consecrated to Mary, we can walk confidently knowing that, even without asking, she will take care of our every need and concerns - because, having been united with her, our concerns become her concerns as well.
"... when we give Mary our "yes", she begins to arrange all the events and details of our lives in such beautiful, tender, and loving ways."
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