Recalculating! Recalculating! These are the favorite words of good ole Suzy. You see Suzy is my GPS. With Suzy along for the ride I never get lost when I travel. I named my GPS Suzy because she sounds like a Suzy when she talks to me. She guides me to my eventual destination and gently reminds me (recalculating) when I fail to follow the way. With Suzy in tow I never have to face that embarrassing task that all men hate; asking for directions. Suzy never lets me down.
We all need directions in our lives and sometimes we need someone to tell us if we are on the right path. Who among us has not benefitted from following directions or following a map? And how comforting it is to have someone to show us the way; someone who can give us a great example to follow?
As people of faith, do we depend on the Blessed Mother, Mary, to show us the way to the perfect destination; Jesus her son and savior? Do we call on her to point us in His direction?
Today is a glorious celebration for this Sunday brings us the Feast of the Assumption. This day is celebrated as a Solemnity in the Church. A solemnity is a principal feast in the liturgical year of the Church. They celebrate something specific to Jesus, Mary, or one of the Saints. The Church identifies 17 solemnities and today is one of them; the Assumption.
The Assumption is an infallibly declared teaching of the Church and is one of only two infallible teachings from the Pope. The other is the teaching on the Immaculate Conception. It was 1950 when Pope Pius XII, after polling the bishops of the world, took the chair of Peter and declared the following:
“We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.”
The Catechism, paragraph 966 states: “when the course of her earthly life was finished, Mary was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be more fully conformed to her Son. The Assumption of Mary is a singular participation in her Son’s Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians.
Mary’s entire life was to bring forth her Son Jesus, and to point us to Him. From her “yes” to the angel Gabriel, her beautiful Magnificat, which we hear in today’s Gospel, to the wedding feast in Cana, where she said “do whatever He tells you”, to her faithful witness at the foot of the Cross to the glorious Assumption, Mary points the way, she gives us direction, she leads us to Jesus!
The Assumption confirms that even Mary must share with Jesus, body and soul, His eternal glory in Heaven. And she points all of us to this destination too!
Our Gospel is not of the Assumption, for this glorious event is not recorded in the Gospel. We hear her beautiful Magnificat, as she visits Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist, and soon after Mary learned of God’s will from the angel Gabriel. This beautiful prayer is Mary’s expression of joy and her deep faith, hope and love for God. But her Magnificat is also radical, and is another road map, pointing us in the right direction. It is a great example of recalculating. After praising and giving thanks to her almighty Father, Mary declares that the proud will be scattered, the mighty will be cast down, the lowly will be lifted up and hungry will be fed while the rich are sent away empty. Radical in the best sense of the word!
Mary shows us that we must live humbly; to put away our pride and ego and to die to self and live for God. Mary shows us that we must live our lives in service to others, seeking to serve and not be served. Mary shows us to live and love as God wills and not as the world demands. Mary shows us that being rich in money and possessions should never lead to excessive accumulation of wealth when so many poor and needy are in our midst. And Mary challenges us to that radical freedom that depends entirely on God and not on wealth and power. Do you hear it? Recalculating!
The lesson of Mary’s Assumption and her beautiful words recorded in Luke’s Gospel should inspire us today to worship God, surrendering to His will and following her Son Jesus, from crucifixion to resurrection to eternal life with Him. This week can we make the Magnificat our prayer? Recite this beautiful prayer, preferably in the evening. The Magnificat is found in Luke 1:46-55. And in the week ahead, can we pray the Rosary, focusing on the Glorious Mysteries which include the Assumption. Pray with your family, particularly with the children. And finally, with the Assumption as our inspiration can we select one thing that places our life in service to the lowly who will be lifted and the hungry who will be satisfied?
Yes, we all need directions in our lives; we need to know the way to go. As a GPS goes, Suzy does a bang up job. But we need someone to point us in the right direction. And most likely we may need a little recalculating. May we follow the life and example of Mary, assumed body and soul into Heaven, where she reigns as Queen of Heaven and Earth to show us the way; all the way to Jesus!
Mary our mother, Mary guiding us to Jesus always, pray for us!
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