In the first pages of the book of Genesis we read of the
temptation and fall of our first parents—their original sin—the first time that
human beings rebelled against the will of God.
The devil, was successful in convincing Eve that her happiness was found
not in obeying God, but in disobeying Him.
What history would have looked like had our first parents
not sinned and lost paradise, we can only imagine. But, from the beginning we see the powers of
darkness working to oppose the plans of God—a great battle between the powers
of sin and the power of grace continuing to our own day until the end of time.
As a result of their sin, death and suffering and toil
entered the world, yet immediately following the fall, God announced a message
of hope, what theologians call the Protogospel, the first announcement that man
will be redeemed. God says in Genesis: “I
will put enmity between you and the Woman, between your offspring and
hers. He will crush your head while you
will strike at his heel”
Yes, the children of Eve will be cursed by the perpetual
harassment of the devil and his minions; the enemy continues to tempt us to
rebel against God just as he rebelled, just as he led our first parents to
rebel. But, in the end, the enemy will
be crushed by the offspring of the woman.
Saint John Paul II wrote about the ProtoGospel of Genesis in
an encyclical called Redemptoris Mater, the Mother of the Redeemer. He wrote, “In the salvific design of the Most
Holy Trinity, the mystery of the Incarnation constitutes the superabundant
fulfillment of the promise made by God to man after original sin, after that
first sin whose effects oppress the whole earthly history of man. And so, there
comes into the world a Son, ‘the seed of the woman’ who will crush the evil of
sin in its very origins: ‘he will crush the head of the serpent.’ As we see
from the words of the Protogospel, the victory of the woman's Son will not take
place without a hard struggle, a struggle that is to extend through the whole
of human history. The ‘enmity,’ foretold at the beginning, is confirmed in the
Apocalypse, the book of the final events of the Church and the world.
Mary, Mother of the Incarnate Word, is placed
at the very center of that enmity, that struggle which accompanies the history
of humanity on earth and the history of salvation itself. In this history Mary remains a sign of sure
hope”
At the end of her
earthly life, Mary’s body was taken directly into heaven. Earthly remains are normally buried—earth to
earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Yet
Mary, her body and soul, unstained by sin, was assumed, taken into, brought
into the heavenly realm by God. Where
she has gone, we too hope to go. The
Assumption is like the light at the end of a dark tunnel, or a lighthouse
guiding into safe harbor. That’s why the
pope calls Mary a sign of sure hope.
The feast we celebrate today, the assumption of the Blessed
Virgin is infuriating to the devil. It
is proof that the enemy has lost. Death and
corruption don’t get the final say. Sin
doesn’t get the final say. Jesus
Christ’s victory shines and radiates in the blessed Virgin Mary.
Satan, on account of pride, was cast out from heaven, and
Mary, a creature, on account of her humble submission to God in all things is
brought body and soul to heaven.
St. Louis Marie de Montfort: “What Lucifer lost by pride Mary won by
humility. What Eve ruined and lost by
disobedience Mary saved by obedience. By
obeying the serpent, Eve ruined her children as well as herself and delivered
them up to him. Mary, by her perfect fidelity to God, saved her children with
herself and consecrated them to his divine majesty."
Where Mary at Cana told us, “do whatever he tells you”. The enemy continues to speak to our hearts,
“do whatever you want”. Mary stood faithful at the foot of the cross, the enemy
tells us that the cross is too hard for us, and to run away from it. Mary shows us the importance of prayer, the
enemy tells us that prayer is a waste of time.
Mary rejoices in her lowliness, the enemy tells us we can’t be happy
unless we are in charge and get our own way.
She continues to pray for us from her place in heaven. She is our most powerful intercessor to whom
we can turn in any difficulty. She prays
to expose the tactics of the enemy in corrupting our souls, and prays to obtain
the grace that we can be faithful in times of temptation.
Vibrant Marian devotion is part of vibrant Christian
discipleship and brings us great protection from evil and assistance in performing
the works of charity. The praying of the
rosary, the angelus, the memorare, wearing of the scapular and marian medals,
beginning and ending the day with prayers to Mary, showing our love for Mary
deepens our love for Jesus Christ.
And like St. John Paul II said, she is at the center of the
spiritual battle.
Again to quote St. Louis Marie de Montfort: “Thus the most
fearful enemy that God has set up against the devil is Mary, his holy
Mother. From the time of the earthly
paradise, although she existed then only in his mind, he gave her such a hatred
for his accursed enemy, such ingenuity in exposing the wickedness of the
ancient serpent and such power to defeat, overthrow and crush this proud rebel,
that Satan fears her not only more than angels and men but in a certain sense
more than God himself. This does not
mean that the anger, hatred and power of God are not infinitely greater than
the Blessed Virgin's since her attributes are limited. It simply means that Satan, being so proud,
suffers infinitely more in being vanquished and punished by a lowly and humble
servant of God, for her humility humiliates him more than the power of God.”
In the darkness and storms of life, in the spiritual battle
to remain faithful to God against the hosts of temptation, Mary’s example and
prayers will never fail to show us the way to follow Christ. May her prays set our hearts aflame with the
fire of love for Christ and his Church for the glory of God and salvation of
souls.
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