How do we find joy in all this pain and chaos?
Maybe this is how Mary felt; young, unmarried and pregnant with the possibility that she could be stoned to death according to the Law of Moses. To find support she went to stay with her cousin Elizabeth and the gospel today tells us the result.
Elizabeth was completely in tune with God’s will and Mary’s need. She proclaims her blessed and the child leapt in her womb; Elizabeth and her unborn son both recognise the mother of the Lord. This echoes previous women of the Hebrew bible who are declared to be blessed, Jael and Judith. Mary and Elizabeth follow in the tradition of the great Hebrew women, faithful women who are instrumental in the salvation of Israel.
Mary then proclaimed what we call the Magnificat. In all the chaos and danger, Mary finds in her heart a song of God’s greatness, of God’s care for the poor and the downcast. Praise of a God who lifts up the lowly and brings down the high and mighty. Her song echoes the Song of Hannah from the 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Hannah, who was barren like Elizabeth, had been blessed by God and bore a son, Samuel, who she then gave to the Lord. She too prayed a great prayer of praise and it is possible that Mary knew Hannah’s prayer. Hannah, Elizabeth and Mary, who are blessed by God, are all mothers of prophets who will change the world. Prophets are those who point the way to God and the birth of Jesus brings the full revelation of God through his life, death, ascension and resurrection.
The Feast of the Assumption is a strange one and is difficult to understand in a 21st century mindset but it has been honoured since the sixth century. Mary’s body held God and therefore she holds a very special place in our hearts and faith. Eventually, when death came, she was honoured and, in some way, taken into the fullness of life with God without suffering corruption in an earthly way. Mary is an example because she participates in the fullness of life in God and shows us that through her Son’s resurrection, we too will share eternal life. She is part of the new creation, won through the power of Christ’s death and resurrection.
--Dr. Angela McCarthy
Today is the Solemnity of the Assumption
of the Blessed Virgin Mary!
of the Blessed Virgin Mary!
Masses are at 7:45am and 12:10pm.
Join us!
Image source 1: Fr. John Giuliani, Sioux Assumption, https://bridgebuilding.com/products/sioux-assumption-note-card
Image source 2: Br. Mickey McGrath, Saintly Tea Party, https://www.bromickeymcgrath.com/presentations/
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