Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
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“A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth…She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne. The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God.” (Revelations 12:1-2, 5-6)
“…My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in the 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.” (Luke 1:46-49)
Hail Mary, full of grace! Pray for me, O Mother of God, at the hour of my physical death and as I go about proclaiming the good news your Son brought to us.
Study
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If you missed last weekend’s Arlington Diocese Ultreya at St. John Neumann, you missed an opportunity to get to know a very wise Cursillista.
One small group was talking about piety…the struggle to get in morning and evening prayers, the difficulty at times in fitting in a daily Mass during the week or finding time for the Rosary. Keeping our spiritual life foremost can be difficult for all of us.
Then a woman spoke. Her paraphrased comments are used here with her permission.
“I don’t say the Rosary every day, but I say the Hail Mary all the time,” she shared. “You can say it twice in thirty seconds. When I was younger and hanging diapers on the line, each diaper was a couple of Hail Marys. Earlier this year, I broke my shoulder. I say Hail Marys while I’m in physical therapy. It helps with the pain, and two Hail Marys is thirty seconds of an exercise. I figure with all those Hail Marys, I come pretty close to a Rosary a day.”
The beauty of what this woman is doing struck a chord. She could have complained about not having a clothes dryer all those years ago, or about how slow her shoulder is to heal today. But she didn’t. Instead, she turned time that could have turned into envy or self-pity or even just mental wandering into worship. We can all learn from her example.
Follow the example of our sister Cursillista. In honor of the Blessed Virgin’s Assumption today, find a routine activity that requires little mental concentration, and offer up thirty seconds of Hail Marys. If that calms and centers you, try it again during a different activity.
The palanca clock is posted for the 115th Men’s Cursillo that begins September 6 at the
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