Aug 15 – Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mary is taken up body and soul into the glory of Heaven, and with God and in God she is Queen of Heaven and earth. And is she really so remote from us? The contrary is true. Precisely because she is with God and in God, she is very close to each one of us. While she lived on this earth, she could only be close to a few people. Being in God, who is close to us, actually, ‘within’ all of us, Mary shares in this closeness of God. Being in God and with God, she is close to each one of us, knows our hearts, can hear our prayers, can help us with her motherly kindness and has been given to us, as the Lord said, precisely as a “mother” to whom we can turn at every moment. – Pope Benedict XVI
Apo 11:19;12:1-6,10
1 Cor 15:20-27
Lk 1:39-56
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour…
In our Gospel passage today, we encounter two very strong and different women of faith. Mary, a young lady, and Elizabeth her cousin, much more mature and beyond her child-bearing years. Mary, who did not expect to bear a child out of wedlock, and Elizabeth’s was considered a ‘geriatric pregnancy’ by today’s standards. Each of them had given birth to one child each. Each child a gift to their mothers and to the world in a very specific way.
Elizabeth, who was carrying John the Baptist, experienced the great joy of receiving her cousin Mary, and the mother of her own Lord and Saviour! She also experienced the intense sensation of her baby kicking or leaping in her womb when greeted by Mary and Jesus in-utero. “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, [was] filled with the Holy Spirit.” When a pregnant mother experiences the kicks and jolts and sometimes fist-punches of her child in womb, it is indeed a supernatural sensation. There is a remarkably humbling awareness of the sacredness of life beheld within one’s body. How could this be? This must have moved both Elizabeth and Mary deeply!
God’s miracle and wonder of a very elderly and ‘past-her-prime’ Elizabeth becoming pregnant does not stop there. Our Blessed Mother, Mary Most Holy, had only one child too — our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Hers was a virgin and immaculate conception. Although Mary only bore Jesus in her life, nonetheless, she became spiritual mother to Jesus’ disciples who were ‘orphaned’ when he died on the cross. And long after, from age to age, Mother Mary is still mother to all of us now.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Bible, Leah had seven biological children with Jacob. Many of her children were borne out of sorrow at being rejected and unloved by Jacob. Yet, God never forsook nor forgot her. She bore her pain and longing with faith and continued hoping on the Lord for deliverance from her feelings of insecurity and inadequacy. Finally, with her son Judah (which means ‘praise’), she stopped focusing on her husband’s lack of affection and turned her eyes towards God. And God delivered.
As I reflected on the many ways the women of the Bible held fast to the promises of God, Mother Mary’s pillar of faith and thanksgiving remains most remarkable and comforting. She didn’t have the whole story figured out — what did it mean to be the Mother of God? She did not understand the fullness of what she was called to bear and journey through, but she chose to listen, follow, and praise God through the countless uncertainties in her life.
I cling fast to her posture of praise in confusion, praise in anxiety, praise in challenging and treacherous times, praise in sorrow and anguish. It struck me profoundly that when Mary proclaimed her Magnificat in the presence of Elizabeth, she was none the wiser what her life onwards would entail from the conception of the Christ. But she was still able to give thanks and to bring that light of hope to another woman.
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour
for he has looked with favour 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.”
There are many things I do not understand myself — prayers I have prayed for years that have yet to come to fruition, fears that sometimes return to remind me they are still lurking around, hope that floats and yet sometimes seem to vaporise.
As I gaze at our Blessed Mother, her model of faith points out to me that sometimes, our tiny seed of faith proclaimed while still in the darkness, can be a mighty ray of light for another person. We do not need to have everything figured out before knowing that our Lord holds us firmly in His plans for our good.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
(Today’s OXYGEN by Debbie Loo)
Prayer:
“I don’t know about tomorrow,
I just live from day to day.
I don’t borrow from its sunshine,
For its skies may turn to gray.
I don’t worry o’er the future,
For I know what Jesus said,
And today I’ll walk beside Him,
For He knows what is ahead.“
Thanksgiving:
“Many things about tomorrow,
I don’t seem to understand;
But I know who holds tomorrow,
And I know who holds my hand.” Thank you for always holding my hand, Jesus.
OXYGEN 
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