August 15, 2010
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ
She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the 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. Revelation 12:5-6
For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life, but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ; then comes the end, 10 when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 1 Corinthians 15:22-25
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. Luke 1:46-49
Piety
Gone, but not gone. She is with us until the end of time in her closeness to the indwelling of her son whose mother she is. His mother and our mother too since the life of Christ within us always has the mother close by. Because Mary is part of the life of the Church, she is part of our lives also. Those that honor Mary, honor her son. Because we claim a relationship to Christ we have the right to call Mary our Mother. She is the Mother of our Christ life within. Wither we would go with Jesus as our companion of life, Mary cannot be far away. The Assumption celebrates the fact that Mary after her death did not know decay of her body. She is welcomed into heaven as the mother of Jesus and because Jesus is one person with two natures, she is rightly called the mother of God. The “Hail Mary” says it better than any words we can put on all of this. “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.”
Study
I look at all the ways Mary is important in my life. 60 years ago on this feast day I entered the Jesuits. Thirteen years later on this day I gave my first sermon in Spanish. Mary has blessed me in my life with her special days. Her friends are mine. My mother because of her devotion to Mary in spite of the advice of her doctors gave birth to me as her first child. When I was a young Jesuit she told me how because of Mary she was willing to risk her health that I be born. Mary carried Christ as we should carry Christ in our spiritual lives. She was attentive to her son as we should be attentive. She was present to her son in all the important events of his life. The mysteries of the rosary are the ways so many of God’s people have developed a spiritual life. By saying the rosary and entering into the big events of the life of her son Spiritual journeys are nourished. I realize that people, who really know me, know my mother. The same can be said by Jesus. He was a true son of his mother. What we do as children of our parents Christ did as the child of Mary. Mary watches over us for her son. We need to realize Mary as our mother, too. Jesus will love us in a special way in our loving his mother.
Action
A mother’s love can make our world a better world. We need to sharpen our devotion to Mary. She will bring us close to her son. A wonderful action in our lives can be saying the rosary out in the open where others can see what we are doing. Too many of us seem to be ashamed of the role of Mary in the Church. We need to brag on Mary that others will realize she is still active in our world by seeing how important she is in our lives. She is gone, but not gone.
