By William Selvaraj csc –
Readings: Rev 11: 19a, 12: 1-6a, 10ab; 1Cor 15: 20-27; Lk 1: 39-56
Today, our Mother Church celebrates the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Assumption reminds us that Mary was assumed into heaven by the grace and the will of God and not by her own merit.
Assumption is the belief that when Mary the mother of Christ died, her body was assumed into heaven to be reunited with her soul, instead of going through the natural process of physical decay.
The gospel reading clearly portrays the humble Mother Mary helping her relative who was in need. This is where we see her humility. In the same way, when you and I seek the intercession of Mother Mary, we may also receive what we need. She is always ready to help us when ask her through praying the Holy Rosary because whenever she appears to people, she asks them to pray the Rosary.
In her profound humility, she became the first disciple of Jesus and the first one to fulfil God’s plan on earth through total submission. She followed him from his birth to death, from Bethlehem to Calvary. She teaches us to have faith in the word of God and to surrender ourselves to God even when we do not understand his plans. Elizabeth praises Mary’s faith saying (Lk: 1: 42, 45) “You are most blessed among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb and blessed are you, who believed that the Lord’s work would come true.”
Mary’s joyful song is ‘Magnificat’ through which she humbly praises God for all his help and accompaniment to redeem the people from the sinful way of life and bring salvation to the whole humanity. She believed in the word of God and also responded to what that the word meant. So, let us ask our humble Mother Mary to fill us with grace and the virtue of profound humility.