Aug. 15, 2024 - The Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary(Replacing Thu. of 19th Week in Ord. Time)
May you continue to strive to pray and live the response of Mary: “Let it be done to me according to Your will, O GOD.” Today we celebrate the Assumption of Mary into heaven. Mary, as Jesus’ mother and the person who is “blessed among women” (and men), shares in the graces Jesus gave us through His ministry, life, death, and resurrection. Mary’s key role in the earthly life of her Son, Jesus, demonstrates her desire to do what GOD asks of her. It is fitting that she be the first to experience (in both her soul and her body) the fullness of the heavenly Realm where her Son reigns forever.
Readings can be obtained from: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081524.cfm Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary:
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/franciscan-spirit-blog/the-assumption-of-mary
or https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/assumption-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary
Readings: Revelation 11: 19a, 12: 1-6a, 10ab; Psalm 45: 10, 11, 12, 16;
1 Corinthians. 15: 20-27; Luke 1: 39-56
Today we celebrate the Assumption of Mary into heaven. The First Reading speaks about the woman who gives birth to a Son through Whom salvation and power come into the world. We also hear that GOD has prepared a place for the woman. The focus of the Responsorial is also a woman, a queen, who is to take her rightful and glorious place beside the King. St. Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians relates the order of things in heaven. There, Jesus comes into the presence of His Abba-Father, Who happens to be GOD, and takes His position in splendor. After Jesus comes all those who belong to Him. The Gospel today shares with us the account of Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth while both women are pregnant – Elizabeth with John the Baptist and Mary with Jesus.
Today’s solemnity celebrates the tradition held since apostolic times that Mary at her “dormition” (“sleeping”) is placed in a tomb in Jerusalem. When some of the faithful go to the tomb after a few days of mourning, the tomb is empty because, before her body decomposes, Mary (in her body) has been taken to heaven to be with her Son, Jesus.
The account from the Book of Revelation has linked Mary to the woman giving birth to the One Who comes as Savior. Both the woman and the child face opposition from the dragon (symbol of Roman government and demonic evil). A special place is prepared by GOD for the woman. Some people believe that this in some way relates to Mary’s privilege of having her body taken to heaven before it faced decay. [In Kay Murdy’s book, Song of the Dove, she has this vision while she is carrying Jesus. If this is true, it might have been Mary’s closeness to St. John that inspired him to relate this vision in the Book of Revelation.]
Mary is also associated with the queen mentioned in the psalm today. Just as the queen takes her place beside the king in majesty and splendor, so Mary is taken to heaven to share in the glory of her Son, Jesus. Just as the king in the psalm desires the presence of the queen at his side, so Jesus wants His mother to be with Him, body and soul, in the glory of heaven.
As St. Paul writes to the people of Corinth, he inspires them with the words about the glories of heaven. He mentions that Christ has gone as the “first fruit” of GOD. Jesus has taken His place in the glory of heaven. After Him, comes all those who belong to Christ. Obviously, Mary, His mother, is on the top of the list of those who belong to Jesus. It is fitting that she should be the first, after her Son, to share the joys of heaven with her human (but glorified) body, as all the faithful will at the end of time.
Although the Gospels never speak about the events of Mary’s Assumption, today’s account of the visitation of Mary and her cousin Elizabeth gives us a glimpse of Mary’s specialness. Because she has said her “Fiat” (“Let it be”), the child within her womb is the Son of GOD. Elizabeth recognizes the presence of holiness in Mary and the child in her womb, even though Mary is only at the very beginning of her first trimester. Even John the Baptist, the child within Elizabeth’s womb, jumps for joy as he senses GOD’s touching the lives of these holy women as they meet. Mary responds to Elizabeth’s greeting by praising GOD and GOD’s action in her life in the beautiful canticle of the Magnificat – “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in GOD, my Savior. . .”
This doctrine of the Assumption of Mary was dogmatically defined by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950, in the apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus by exercising papal infallibility. The Assumption of Mary had been celebrated since apostolic times. Although I had been raised with teaching of the Assumption of Mary into heaven, I had not experienced the full impact of the feast until I was studying in Israel in August 1978. In Jerusalem there is a church known as “Dormition Abbey.” It is believed, especially by the people in Jerusalem, to be one of the places where Mary lived the last days of her earthly life. In the first half of August, an icon (painting) of Mary is taken from Dormition Abbey to a graveyard-cemetery across town where it is place in a tomb. A few days later the people come out to the tomb of Mary and joyously carry the icon back through the city of Jerusalem in a procession and is greeted by citizens of Jerusalem, be they Christian, Jewish, or Muslim. They celebrate that Mary’s body has not experienced decay but joyously has been assumed into heaven to be with her Son.
Mary is held in high esteem by many Jerusalemites. She is considered a Jerusalem girl who has done well for herself because she gave birth to Jesus, the great prophet. [Many Jews and Muslims in Jerusalem respect Jesus as a prophet, and Mary is mentioned in the Muslim Koran.] Catholic Christians (and members of some other denominations) believe that Mary’s position as the mother of Jesus gives her the privilege of being the first to share fully, i.e. body and soul, in the glory of the Reign of GOD with Jesus, her Son.
This solemnity should be a positive reminder for all of us who call ourselves disciples of the Lord Jesus. We, too, will share in the glory of heaven with Jesus our Savior, if we strive, as St. Paul says in today’s Second Reading, to be those who belong to Christ. We will one day experience the fullness of heaven with our re-created bodies and joyously celebrate with Him Who has put all of His enemies under His feet. This is our destiny if we follow the Lord Jesus and say, “Fiat - Let it be” to what GOD asks of us, just as Mary did. We will then be able to be one with the Lord Jesus and praise GOD’s name as Mary did in her canticle of the Magnificat: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the LORD; my spirit rejoices in GOD my Savior. . .”
- The personal question/action for today: When I reflect on Mary’s position as the mother of Jesus and her saying “Fiat” (“Let it be”) to GOD’s will, what thoughts do I have? How can I more fully respond to GOD’s call to work for the furthering of the Gospel by saying my own “Fiat” to GOD’s will? How do I react to the promise that, if I responded faithfully to GOD’s plan (that Jesus has shown us through His ministry, life, death, and resurrection), that I will share in the fullness of GOD’s Reign in heaven for ever?
Blessed are You, LORD GOD, ever loving and desirous of sharing the glory of Your Reign with those who respond to Your will. We come before You as we reflect on the response of Mary to Your call. You have blessed her because of her willingness to say “Yes” to Your request. She gave birth to our Savior, Jesus, Your Divine Son. You have graced her with many blessings and allowed her to share in the glory of her Son, just as she shared in His life, ministry, death, and resurrection. May we look forward to the joys of heaven and being forever in Your presence and the presence of Your Son, Jesus. Through the overpowering of the Holy Spirit, helps us to respond affirmatively to Your will. We make this prayer in the name of Your Son Jesus, the Son of Mary. It is He Who has opened the gates of heaven for us and prepared a place for us in Your home. It is He Who is living and reigning with You and the Holy Spirit, our one and only GOD, for ever and ever. Amen.
Song of the Day: Holy is His Name by John Michael Talbot: Video of the Day: The Assumption of the Virgin Mary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgpDfLdslLk Suggested Reading: Song of the Dove by Kay Murdy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TEL_7TS5FE
© rjk, 01-27-23
