“Mary, Mother of God and All of Us” by Colleen O’Sullivan

“Mary, Mother of God and All of Us” by Colleen O’Sullivan

Solemnity Of The Assumption Of The Blessed Virgin Mary

Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.  When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.  And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.  Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled." (Luke 1:39-45)

Piety

And Mary said:
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in 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.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever."  (Luke 1:46-55)

Study

In Luke’s Gospel, we are told that after Mary and Joseph found their 12-year old son asking questions and listening attentively to the answers in the Temple, Jesus advanced [in] wisdom and age and favor before God and man (2:52).  We don’t hear another word about Jesus’ life until he’s about 30 and beginning his public ministry. 

In the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, there is an opportunity to meditate on these so-called hidden years in Jesus’ life.  When I consider the years about which Scripture is silent, I cannot help but think about Jesus’ mother, Mary.  No human being is a carbon copy of his or her mother.  In fact, some of us lead lives quite different from those of our mothers, but I think it’s fair to say that a person’s mother leaves an indelible mark on who we become as we grow up. 

If we could have spoken to Mary toward the end of her life on earth, what might she have had to say about being the mother of Jesus?

I have lived a long and very full life.  I remember as if it were yesterday the visit from God’s messenger.  I didn’t know what to think.  Me, a mother?  How could that be?  I had eyes only for Joseph, and I had certainly acted with decorum in our relationship.  I pondered the angel’s words for months.  It was not until I went to visit my older cousin Elizabeth that the reality of it truly hit me.  I hadn’t said a word to her, yet she greeted me as “blessed among women.”  She went on to say that the child I carried was blessed as well and referred to the baby as her Lord! 

I did know something of taking care of a baby because I had helped with many of them in my village.  But this was a special child, born of the Holy Spirit.   My God was surely expecting something more from me than from other mothers. 

I remembered the words of prayer that burst forth from my lips when I heard Elizabeth’s greeting.  I would use them as my guide, I thought.  With help from my beloved Joseph, we brought Jesus up to love his Father in heaven, to regard God as holy, as someone to revere.  But I also wanted my son to know that his Father wasn’t far away and unapproachable; God is as close as a prayer.  I taught Jesus the words of prayers that our people had been using for centuries.  And I also told him to pray in his own words, to offer up whatever was in his heart.  I said he would be able to hear God’s response if he was very quiet and kept the ears of his heart open.

Throughout my entire life, I have wondered at God picking me, a lowly no one, to bear his Son.  God’s ways are not our ways on earth, however.  In God’s eyes, the last shall be first and the first shall be last.  I am someone in God’s estimation.  Many of the great and mighty here and now will be last in the Kingdom.  At least that’s what Jesus always said, and I believed him. 

The saddest day in my life came when I watched my son die on a cross, but it was quickly followed by the joy of his resurrection three days later.  When I saw him standing before me that Sunday, there was no doubt in my heart that I was witnessing the glory of God!  The joy I experienced was beyond words. 

So, as I said in the beginning, I have lived a long and very full life.  It’s been lonely without Joseph and Jesus, although my son’s friends and their children have taken good care of me.   No mother ever expects to outlive her child.  I have now grown old, and it cannot be long before I see them again in heaven.  How I look forward to that reunion.

Action

Mary was a wonderful mother to Jesus, teaching him to pray, introducing him to the ways of their people, opening his eyes to the plight of the poor, and teaching him to be merciful and compassionate, as is his Father in heaven.  Her arms are open to us today as well.  Whatever we ask for, she carries our needs directly to Jesus. 

Whatever your need on this day when we celebrate Mary’s Assumption, ask her, in her mercy, to carry your prayer directly to Jesus.