Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The assigned readings are Revelation 11:19, 12:1-6, 10; 1 Corinthians 15:20-27; and Luke 1:39-56. The Responsorial Psalm is Psalm 45 (Psalm 45: 10-12, 16).
The Gospel reading is as follows:
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."
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."
Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
965. After her
Son's Ascension, Mary "aided the beginnings of the Church by her
prayers." In her association with the apostles and several women, "we
also see Mary by her prayers imploring the gift of the Spirit, who had
already overshadowed her in the Annunciation."
966. "Finally
the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin,
when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and
soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all
things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the
Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death." The Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and
an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians:
967. By her
complete adherence to the Father's will, to his Son's redemptive work,
and to every prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the
Church's model of faith and charity. Thus she is a "preeminent and . . .
wholly unique member of the Church"; indeed, she is the "exemplary realization" (typus) of the Church.
Background information:
Additional reflections:
No comments:
Post a Comment