A Very Good Assumption

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Readings for the Solemnity of the Assumption

Reflection:

Oh, before I begin in earnest, be warned that most Protestants are going to be very nervous if you start evangelizing using the theotokos as your inspiration today. While they accept that Mary was the birth mother of Jesus, they have not evolved spirituality around her and feel that the Catholic devotion to her verges on idolatry. In our own faith there are those whose devotion to Mary verges on heresy as they attempt to deify her (the whole Mary Co-Redemptrix thing).

Since a friend of mine, Tom Gielda, quizzed me last week asking; “What Holy Day of Obligation is on August 15th?” (I confess, I could not remember without looking), I have been wondering what to write. I read some of the old texts on the assumption and its theology. I highly recommend The Assumption of Mary from the Apocrypha and Cyril of Jerusalem, Homily on the Dormition. When I saw the readings from today, however, I realized that something I pray everyday, the Magnificat, was there and it captures that which is most admirable about the Mother of God.

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.”

Mary starts her song with “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.” Remember yesterday when we talked about the lack of praise in our prayer? Mary starts that way and keeps right on going. Her song is one of those wondrous prayers that demonstrates a purity of heart and intent that we can only long to aspire to.

I know that sounds a little melodramatic but, since I have prayed that part of St. Luke’s Gospel almost every day for the past 22 years, it’s pretty hard for me not to be emotionally affected by its simple vulnerability and humility. Is it any wonder we as a Church believe that such a pure spirit should be taken bodily to heaven?

Pax