15th AUGUST. THE ASSUMPTION OF OUR LADY

1.Revelation 11-12

2.Corinthians 15:20-25

3.Luke 1:39-56

MEDITATIONS AND REFLECTIONS

Today we are celebrating the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven. This one is a dogma of our Catholic faith. As a Catholic, we must believe in faith that Mary was assumed into heaven body and soul even if we cannot understand it. And if we don’t like to believe that Mary was assumed into heaven, then that is tantamount to saying that we are no longer Catholics. The Catholic dogma teaches that the end of the earthly life of this woman, she was assumed immediately into heaven, body and soul and united with God.

Assumption was declared or proclaimed by pope pius XII in 1950. He said: “By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, we proclaim, declare and define that it is divinely revealed dogma that Mary the Immaculate Mother of God ever virgin when the course of her earthly life ended, was raised body and soul to the glory of heaven.”

In her magnificat, Mary is enraptured by God, she does not ask anything for herself, she is not worried about the future; she thinks only the goodness of God up to the supreme example of someone totally captivated by the love of God. In this sense she is fairest of all God’s creatures.

Mary once encountered an angel of God she humbles and calls herself the handmaid of the Lord. In this context we are told that Mary was willing to be at her Lord’s disposal. She lived solely for God and therefore God, who cannot be outdone in generosity, gave her the fullness of grace. Now just has Jesus did not abandon us when he ascended to heaven, so Mary has not been separated from Christian community by her assumption, but remains for each of us a sign of model and guarantee of all that the believer hopes to become in heaven. We pray today that we too may be found worthy to come to that place in heaven which God has prepared for those who love him.