Aug. 15, 2018: Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary
Aug. 15, 2018 Assumption of Mary
A few days ago, Deacon Tim and I went to visit a parishioner who was gravely ill. As we stood by her bedside, her grown children were gathered around her and I administered the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. She had already lost her husband a year ago, and she had been heart broken ever since. I prayed the prayer of the dying in these words, “I commend you, my dear sister, to almighty God, and entrust you to your Creator. May you return to him who formed you from the dust of the earth. May holy Mary, the angels, and all the saints come to meet you as you go forth from this life. May Christ who was crucified for you bring you freedom and peace...May you see your Redeemer face to face, and enjoy the vision of God for ever.” The room was filled with great sadness and sorrow because it pained her children at the thought of losing their mother. Through their faith, they knew that their mother would live on in a different way after her bodily death. However, the sadness perhaps was from the fear that they would not see and feel their mother’s love as before. They longed to be loved by their mom forever for her love made all the difference in forming them into caring and faith-filled persons. As we sang together the hymn, “Immaculate Mary,” we sensed the presence of Heavenly Mother who came to comfort the dying mother and her children.
This family’s experience as they gathered around their dying mother helps us imagine what it was like for the disciples of Jesus as they gathered around Blessed Mother during her last days of earthly life. Blessed Mother was, for the disciples, the face and the presence of her Jesus among them after he ascended into heaven. Perhaps her physical resemblance was close to her Son’s; even more, her gentle and loving way mirrored her Son’s. She was for the disciples a living reminder of Jesus and a constant source of consolation. Her love was the sign of God’s mercy and tenderness.
For the disciples, Blessed Mother witnessed to them her complete trust in the Father and the Son, perseverance in times of difficulties, and hope against hope. She suffered at the death of her Son at Calvary and then separated again from him when he ascended into heaven. Yet she tirelessly modeled for them how to be a disciple of Jesus. She shared with them the mystery of her Annunciation, the Nativity, and the suffering and death of her Son on Calvary. She reminded them about her Son’s teachings by living it out with her care and compassion for others. In moments when darkness and persecution were overwhelming, she encouraged them with her presence and her faith.
St. Padre Pio captured Blessed Mother’s Assumption in this way:
After the Ascension of Jesus Christ into Heaven, Mary was continually on fire with a most intense desire to be reunited to Him...Those years in which she had to be separated from Him were for her a most slow and painful martyrdom, a martyrdom of love that consumed her little by little...The apostles, upon hearing that Mary would soon leave them, reacted like children who stood to become orphans, and they burst forth in sorrowful lamentations. She took steps to console them, assuring them that she would not completely abandon them, but would continue to assist and help them from Heaven.
The Church teaches that at the end of her earthly life, Blessed Mother, by a special privilege, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory at the end of her earthly life. St. John Paul II explained, "The Assumption is the culmination of the struggle which involved Mary's generous love in the redemption of humanity and is the fruit of her unique sharing in the victory of the Cross." Now from heaven, this Queen of the angels and saints, does not cease to console, assure, intercede, and guide her children on earth. Her maternal love for us remains the same as it ever was during her life on earth. As the Mother of the Church, she cooperates in the birth and development of her sons and daughters on earth. In the difficult moments of our earthly life, we should not act as though we are abandoned children feeling alone and dejected. We are closer than ever to our Heavenly Mother whose maternal presence and voice calls out to us each day, “Dear children, pray, pray, pray! Open your heart to my Son’s love. Love and forgive your neighbors.”
