August 15, 2010 – From the Desk of the Pastor
Dear Parishioners of OLM & OLS,
Today, the Church pauses in the midst of its regular celebration of Sunday Eucharistic Celebrations to honor the patroness of our parishes. Today, the Church celebrates the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the celebration of this Feastday, Mama Mary is set before us as the exemplar of the disciples of her Son. Where she has gone, we hope to follow.
Why do we confer such great dignity upon her? Let me pull a few things from the Compendium Catechism of the Catholic Church.
“The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of the Church in the order of grace because she gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God, the Head of the body which is the Church. When he was dying on the cross Jesus gave his mother to his disciple with the words, ‘Behold, you mother’ (John 19:27).
After the Ascension of her Son, the Virgin Mary aided the beginnings of the Church with her prayers. Even after her Assumption into heaven, she continues to intercede for her children, to be a model of faith and charity for all, and to exercise over them a salutary influence deriving from the superabundant merits of Christ. The faithful see in Mary an image and an anticipation of the resurrection that awaits them and they invoke her as advocate, helper, benefactress and mediatrix.
Looking upon Mary, who is completely holy and already glorified in body and soul, the Church contemplates in her what she herself is called to be on earth and what she will be in the homeland of heaven.”
Our Parishes are blessed to have such an example and intercessor as our patroness under her titles of Our Lady of Mercy and Our Lady of Sorrows. As her sons and daughters may we, in the times of our own sorrows, turn to her intercession with her Son and know God’s mercy. May we stand ready and willing to assist those among us in sorrow with the balm of mercy.
My love and prayers,
Father Jack
The Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary
First Reading: Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 45:10, 11, 12, 16
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:20-27
Gospel: Luke 1:39-56
A Mary Day
The impetus for the celebration of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary did not come from on high. It came from deep in the earth, deep in the human spirit. The groundswell of devotion to Mary has always been with us. By the fourth century Mary was honored as the Mother of God. She was honored by her own son as the blessed one who hears God’s word and keeps it. Today we celebrate the triumph of Mary and of all who hear God’s word and keep it.
Comment
Mary is the first of those who came wholly into God’s presence. In the earliest of the Church documents, we read of the “dormition”–that is, the falling asleep or death–of Mary. Documents dating from the fifth century indicate that the Church in the East celebrated the feast of the Dormition of Mary.
The celebration of her assumption expresses our faith in the saving power of the resurrection of Christ. Celebrations of Mary are at root celebrations of Christ. There is a “proper order” to our celebration, Paul tells us: “Christ the first fruits; and then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ.” This is how those who have “fallen asleep” will be raised from the dead. The Church has long known that if anyone belonged to Jesus, it was Mary–although in the natural order of things, Jesus first belonged to Mary; he was her child, after all. That is the focal point of the Gospel reading of the day. And what a child!
Bright and early, we might imagine, Mary was up and off to visit her cousin Elizabeth. This rare down-home story is peculiar to Luke, and we are glad to have it for all days and especially for today. It was by the gift of the Holy Spirit that Elizabeth recognized that the pregnant Mary was to be mother of “my Lord.” Mary’s response to Elizabeth’s faith is the Magnificat. This prayer connects Mary back to another woman of faith, the mother of the judge Samuel. Mary’s prayer draws heavily from 1 Samuel 2:1-8. Mary belongs to the long line of great women of her race.
Reflection
She is also the crown of all women. Mary blesses God, but on this day, we call Mary blessed. We celebrate her as the Mother of God and at the same time the one who belongs to God–fully and at long last. The Church has specially honored Mary, and in the West, she “ belonged to him” from the beginning of her life to its end without end. The feast of the Immaculate Conception in dark winter considers the beginning. As the new Church year begins, we celebrate her. It is fitting that one conceived without sin should bear the sinless one. Now, in high summer’s season of abundant fruits, we pause to celebrate the reflected glory of Christ–first Christ, and “then those who belong to Christ.”
The first reading is a passage from the highly symbolic Book of Revelation, the last book of the Christian Scriptures. Placed here on this feast day, we are invited to regard Mary as the triumphant one, clothed in the colors and surrounded by the creatures that connote the heavens–the stars, the moon. She bore the child who would defeat all sin and evil. Jesus is the one who would save the people from their sins. Business as usual would be upended. As Mary’s Magnificat proclaims, the mighty are cast off their thrones and the lowly are lifted up. The hungry are filled. The rich are sent away empty. The second reading echoes this upending and the triumph of God. The eternal life won by Jesus and given fully to Mary is the manifestation of God’s promise fulfilled.
