“HONEY FROM THE ROCK”
Daily Reflections
Tuesday, 15th August 2017,
Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Rev 11:19, 12:1-6, 10;
Ps 44:10-12, 16;
1Cor 15:20-27;
Lk 1:39-56
THE GOAL OF OUR STRUGGLE!
Today, on the Solemnity of the Assumption into Heaven of the Mother of God, we celebrate her passage from the earthly condition to heavenly blessedness. By contemplating Mary in heavenly glory, we understand that the earth is not the definitive homeland for us either, and that if we live with our gaze fixed on eternal goods we will one day share in this same glory and the earth will become more beautiful. Consequently, we must not lose our serenity and peace even amidst the thousands of daily difficulties. The luminous sign of Our Lady taken up into heaven, shines out even more brightly when sad shadows of suffering and violence seem to loom on the horizon.
The Gospel text is commonly known as “The Magnificat”. This hymn of praise seems to have been modeled on the prayer of Samuel’s mother, Hannah, in 1 Sam 2:1-10. It communicates a picture of Mary as someone quite immersed in scripture. It reveals God primarily as a God of the poor. God is the one who will vindicate the poor by removing the rich and mighty from their positions and raising the lowly. The hymn speaks of the effects of the Lord’s coming for all of God’s people. It begins on a note of salvation as Mary acknowledges her dependence on God. It was the grace of God that sustained and brought her to the position in which she finds herself. She did not achieved anything on her own, it is all a gift of God and thus, Mary acknowledges her humble state, referring to herself as God’s servant. She is to be called “blessed’ because God, in his mercy and goodness, had raised her to this level. God remembers not only those of old but also the present generation. He is a God not only of the past, but also a God of the present, the now. In a world where the rich seem to be getting richer and the poor, poorer; it is important to remember that God’s ways are not our ways and so, the poor must, in confidence, sing this song as their song. The confidence with which Mary sings this song runs through the entire hymn. Like Mary, we need to continue to open ourselves to all that God wants to do in us. We need to continue to acknowledge our dependence on God by doing all that is required of us and then, leaving the rest in God’s capable and strong hands.
The Assumption celebrates the Blessed Virgin's singular participation in her Son's Resurrection by which she was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory when the course of her life was finished. Of course, the message for us is that Mary's Assumption gives us a glimpse into what we too can expect when our own resurrection occurs on the last day. Mary's assumption is really the destiny of all those in Christ. As St Paul tells us that, we shall be raised up from the dead with a glorified body like that of Christ Himself. Through the power of Christ's resurrected glory, we'll experience complete and perfect union with God in Christ in a glorified state, just as Mary experiences it now as a result of her Assumption.
The Assumption is a day on which we are called to focus ourselves anew on our final goal and our final hope of glory. So let our other occupation and preoccupation fall into line. We need to see ourselves standing up there with Mary with the moon beneath our feet, clothed with the sun and the stars as the crown on our heads. We need to let the dragon be kept in his true perspective, and seek, each of us, through grace, and with the help of the Immaculate, to give birth, albeit with wailing pain, to Christ in our lives. Then our own resurrection, body and soul, will be assured; then our own lives will have found their final and truest context; then we will realize that the truth proclaimed in the dogma of the Assumption is actually the fulfillment of the deepest desire of our lives.
Reflect, upon your understanding of our Blessed Mother. Do you know her, understand her role in your life and continually seek her motherly care? She is your mother if you choose to live in the grace of her Son. Embrace that fact more deeply today and choose to make her an even more important part of your life.
Prayer: Lord, help me to love Your mother with the same love You have for her. As You were entrusted to her care, so I desire to be entrusted to her care. Mary, my Mother and Queen, pray for me as I have recourse to you. May your glorious beauty fill our hearts with distaste for earthly things and an ardent longing for the joys of Heaven. Jesus, I trust in You Amen.
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