Aug-15 Liturgical Study Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Heaven

 

Aug-15 Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Heaven

Mother Mary's unique role is reflected in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 967) By her complete adherence to the Father’s will, to his Son’s redemptive work, and to every prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the Church’s model of faith and charity. Thus she is a ‘pre-eminent and wholly unique member of the Church’; indeed, she is the ‘exemplary realisation’ of the Church” 

Mary’s greatness was not just in being chosen to be Jesus’ mother but in her total acceptance of that responsibility in faith and trust, accepting blindly all that it might entail.

- Birth in a strange city of Bethlehem without basic care or comfort

- Flight into Egypt

- Losing her 12 year old son for 3 days in Jerusalem 

- The passion and crucifixion of Christ

First reading from Revelation: 

There is first a brief reference of God’s temple in the New Jerusalem about the ark of the covenant kept in the Holy of Holies within which is kept God's covenant with Moses and the chosen people.

Christ however is the new and permanent covenant. And his Mother Mary is presented as the one who bore this covenant, therefore she is bestowed the title 'Ark of the Covenant' in the prayer of the litany.

The apocalyptic description of a dragon (with serpent representing the devil is an enemy both of God and his people in Jewish tradition) threatening to devour the child as soon as it is born. Its tail sweeping a third of the stars from the sky is an allusion to the fall of those angels who sided with Lucifer

While it is tempting to assume that the woman, the mother, flees into the wilderness (the traditional refuge for the persecuted) refers to the exile of the Holy Family to Egypt, we need to remember that this is an allegory, not a historical record.

Second reading Corinthians 15:20-27:

Christ, the Son of God made flesh, who died on the cross is indeed the very first among the risen, seated at the right hand of his Father. He is, in Paul’s words, “the first fruits of those who have died”.

Gospel Luke 1:39-56

We hear of Mary setting out with haste from Nazareth to a small town in the hills of Judea, not far from Jerusalem (where Zechariah served as a priest in the Temple), to visit her older cousin, Elizabeth, who was pregnant with the child we know as John the Baptist. Mary herself, of course, is carrying her own child, Jesus. 

It is highly significant that it is Mary and Jesus who go to visit Elizabeth and John. And Elizabeth, inspired by the Holy Spirit, recognises this special moment, giving praise to Mary.

Mary in turn sings God’s praises in the lovely song we call the Magnificat. Mary was a simple unmarried girl living in obscurity in a small town in an out of the way Roman province. Her being chosen is simply another sign of God’s desire that the poor, the weak, the marginalized, the exploited and discriminated against in this world should be the special recipients of God’s love and care. It was indeed an extraordinary grace to be chosen to be the mother of the world’s Saviour. And Mary's response was wholehearted 'let it be done to me according to your word'.