August 15 2023 - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin - "A great sign appeared in the sky"

 Throughout the Scriptures God uses signs and wonders to get people’s attention, to indicate that he is at work to save His people, to show his favor, to call sinners to repentance, or simply to demonstrate that He is God and we need to listen to Him.

The rainbow after the flood and the dove carrying the olive branch were signs indicated God’s peace and a new beginning for humanity.  The handwriting on the wall in Daniel chapter 5 was a sign indicating that the Babylonian rule of the Jewish people was coming to an end. Remember, the Judge Gideon asked for a sign that God would provide protection and victory over the soldiers of Baal—a fleece that remained immune to the morning dew. The plagues of Egypt were signs that God was serious about delivering his people from slavery. And the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night were signs that God was guiding his people to freedom.

Heavenly signs accompanied the birth of the savior: the star of Bethlehem, the virgin’s conception. And the Lord himself performed numerous signs to show that he was truly God and Messiah—the changing of water into wine, the miraculous feeding of the multitude, walking on water, healing the blind and the lame, raising the dead.

The twelfth chapter of the book of Revelation speaks of a sign—a sign that would signal the communion between heaven and earth forever—the sign of the woman--A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. Our Lady assumed into heaven is the woman of Revelation--she is the great sign. 

Not only is her assumption a sign that she is favored by God, but a sign for all of us, a sign of God's protection and victory for his people, a sign that the rule of the enemy over our minds and bodies and souls has come to an end, a sign that is to guide the Church, a sign that we need to repent of all the ways that we are not like her.

God has given us a sign. This sign—the sign of Our Lady’s assumption—is a pledge and promise from God to all people, of all places, and all times that loving God as Mary loves God leads to heaven. 

Mary's Assumption is God's sign to us: every Christian who follows Mary's path of humility and fidelity to God's can look forward to following her into the glories and joys of heaven. “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” Those who hear and observe the Word of God, as Mary did, will enter into the beatitude of God, as she has. 

It is always good for us to honor our Lady, to celebrate the marvelous deeds God has worked in her and through her. And yet, today’s feast, is so tremendous, because it’s the stamp of guarantee. Love God, obey God, and your destiny will be with God forever. 

She is, as we sing in the salve regina, Mary is spes nostra: Our hope. Her Assumption enables us to truly call her our hope. What God has done for her, he promises he will do for us. “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it” is a promise from the lips of God, the Word made flesh. You will be blessed, if you become like her, and trust like her, and obey like her, seek to please God like her, and cooperate with the will of God.

She is our hope in another sense. For she is not just an inanimate road-sign, or map, or picture for us to gaze upon. She cooperated mightily with the will of God during her life on earth, and she continues to cooperate with the will of God from her place in heaven. She is at work in each of our lives to help us join her company. She will always help those who turn to her aid, come to that place prepared for each of us.

 May the pilgrim journey of our lives be marked by joy, knowing that where Mary has gone, we are meant to follow. May Our Lady be present at every step of our pilgrim journey, filled with trials and sufferings of every kind that we, like her, may come to that eternal place prepared for us in heaven, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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May all members of the Church, like the Virgin Mary, magnify the goodness of God through word and deed.

That the Assumption of Mary may awaken government leaders to the supreme dignity of each human life, called to the heights of heavenly glory.

For all mothers, that they may find in Mary the example and strength to carry out their vocation, for the sanctification of all families, and the protection of all young people from the evils of error and sin.

For those who suffer any sort of trial, illness, addiction or trial: that the help of Our Lady, gloriously assumed into heaven, may fill them with the grace needed to carry their crosses with faith and hope 

For the deceased members of our family and friends, for all of the poor souls in purgatory…

August 15 2022 - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - De Maria, numquam satis, Concerning Mary, never enough.

Looking around my office this morning, I saw a painting of the immaculate heart, a small statue of the Blessed Virgin I found in Madagascar, a cross stitch of the Blessed Mother holding the Christ child my mother gave me on the occasion of my ordination, an icon of Mary, Seat of Wisdom, I had commissioned, a stained glass window of the crucifixion with Mary standing at the foot of Jesus, and an image of Our Lady of Czestochowa, I rescued from a garage sale. Some might think this excessive. But I say, never enough. 

 St. Bernard, the eloquent doctor of the Church, who is remembered for his great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary once wrote: “De Maria,  numquam satis”, “Concerning Mary, never enough.” That's certainly true for the spiritual writers and theologians who extoll the virtues of Mary: there is never enough ink to write about her holiness. But it's also true for the honor that we are to show our Lady.

 When we love Mary, it helps us to love God. So we can never love Mary enough. When we seek Mary’s intercession, we are seeking help from the woman God chose to bear his only Son. So we can never seek her intercession enough. When we honor her, we show honor to her Creator, who made her Immaculate. So we can never honor her enough. Mary reflects the light of God like a perfect Mirror, she is called Mirror of Justice. Peering into her face, we see God’s love for us reflected, and magnified. So, we can never say enough about her, because we can never say enough about God.

 St. Louie Marie de Montfort wrote, “We have not yet praised, exalted, honored, loved and served Mary as we ought. She deserves still more praise, still more respect, still more love, and still more service.”

 Today’s glorious Feast of Our Lady’s Assumption celebrates the dogma of our faith solemnly defined by the Venerable Pope Pius XII during the Holy Year of 1950. The Assumption is the supreme crown of her privileges – to be preserved immune from the corruption of the tomb,  to be carried up body and soul to the exalted glory of heaven, there to sit in splendour at the right hand of her Son, the immortal King of the ages. "De Maria, Numquam Satis" apparently also applies to the favors God Himself shows to Our Lady.

 In the beautiful Papal decree (MUNIFICENTISSIMUS DEUS), defining the Dogma of the Assumption, Pius XII recalls the eloquent words of St. John Damascene from 1200 years prior. Pius XII writes St. John Damascene, an outstanding herald of this traditional truth, spoke out with powerful eloquence when he compared the bodily Assumption of the loving Mother of God with her other prerogatives and privileges.” And then he quotes St. John Damascene who writes, "It was fitting that she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was fitting that she, who had seen her Son upon the cross and who had thereby received into her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped in the act of giving birth to him, should look upon him as he sits with the Father. It was fitting that God's Mother should possess what belongs to her Son, and that she should be honored by every creature as the Mother and as the handmaid of God."

It is always beneficial to us to honor our Lady throughout the Christian life, and yet, in celebrating this glorious Feast, we also contemplate and celebrate our own destiny, provided we endeavour to persevere along the path of grace. The Mother filled with God’s grace is brought body and soul into heaven. She is the stamp of guarantee that we too can come to heavenly glory if we persevere in living in God’s grace, in allowing God’s grace to live in us.

She is, as we sing in the salve regina, Mary is spes nostra: Our hope. We have firm hope that trusting in God like she has, obeying God, loving Christ as she has, is sure foundation for hoping in heaven. And she is our hope, in that she will always help us achieve that end, if we turn to her—her example and most powerful intercession.

She knows the Way, more intimately than any human creature, and she will always help us follow Him, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That Pope Francis and all members of the Church, like the Virgin Mary, magnify the goodness of God through word and deed.

That the Assumption of Mary may awaken government leaders to the supreme dignity of each human life, called to the heights of heavenly glory.

For all mothers, that they may find in Mary the example and strength to carry out their vocation, for the sanctification of all families, and the protection of all young people from the evils of error and sin.

For those who suffer any sort of trial, illness, addiction or trial: that the help of Our Lady, gloriously assumed into heaven, may fill them with the grace needed to carry their crosses with faith and hope

For the deceased members of our family and friends, for all of the poor souls in purgatory…

[EF READINGS]

A reading from the book of Judith

Blessed are you, our God, who today have humiliated the enemies of your people. Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God, above all the women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, the creator of heaven and earth, who guided your blow at the head of the leader of our enemies. Your deed of hope will never be forgotten by those who recall the might of God. May God make this redound to your everlasting honor, rewarding you with blessings, because you risked your life when our people were being oppressed, and you averted our disaster, walking in the straight path before our God. You are the glory of Jerusalem! You are the great pride of Israel! You are the great boast of our nation!

A continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke

At that time 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.”

August 15 2021 - Assumption of Mary - Spes Nostra, Our Hope

“Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae: Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.” These are the opening words to the great Salve Regina, the Hail, Holy Queen prayed at the recitation of the rosary and as part of the Church’s night prayer. We’ll sing an English version of the prayer for our offertory on this great feast of the Assumption. Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, Our Life, Our Sweetness, and our Hope. Our hope. Spes nostra.

Why do we refer to Our Lady, as Spes Nostra, Our Hope? Well, our hope of what? Of heaven, of course. I’ve not been to heaven, have you? None of us have. When we set off on a journey, we hope to reach our destination. If our destination is right down the road, we don’t need much hope. If it’s a far off land, we need a little bit more hope, for the journey will be difficult. If it’s a place that no one has ever been to, we need a lot more hope, don’t we?

Heaven, is that place, that no one has reached on their own. Paul writes to Timothy, God lives in unapproachable light. The mountain to heaven is untraversable to man by his own power. Additionally, the very gates of heaven were closed to humanity due to sin. What hope do we have of heaven? Well, our faith tells us that Jesus died for sins. 

He promised eternal life to those who believe in him, and follow him, and are reborn in the waters of baptism. Those who eat his flesh and drink his blood shall have eternal life, and shall be raised on the last day. But, where is the proof his promises are true?

Well, we need look no farther than Our Lady. Her assumption is proof that there is a place in heaven for redeemed humanity. There is a place in heaven for the human body and the human soul. How do we know? She’s there. God has given us the great gift of taking our Lady at the end of her earthly life, body and soul, into heaven. And so she our Hope fulfilled. God keeps his promises. It’s possible to live body and soul forever in heaven because she’s already there. 

What Jesus promised is fulfilled in her and so we can truly hope in his promises. A human creature of body and soul can come to heaven through Christ—through God’s grace.

Now, living outside of that grace, ignoring his commandments, failing to repent, disbelieving His word, that’s a whole other story. We have no hope in that. We have no promise that those things lead to heaven. 

But when the Lord says “blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it” we have good reason to believe that observance of the word of God does lead to beatitude because of today’s feast, Our Lady’s assumption. Our Lady, who heard the word of God and observed it, has entered body and soul into heaven. 

This feast is the fulfillment of the great Magnificat which Mary proclaimed upon visiting her cousin Elizabeth. Mary said, “all ages will call me blessed”? Why would we do that? Because she has been assumed into heaven, she is in the blessed presence of God, forever. 

The Assumption shows us that God truly has cast down the mighty from their thrones: the mighty powers of sin and death which kept humanity from living in the heavenly presence of God have been defeated. God has lifted up lowly handmaid into heavenly glory. 

Mary truly magnifies the Lord. Like a magnifying glass helps us to see clearly something which is difficult to see. Mary helps us to see what God was up to in his plan of salvation. She has been filled with all the good things of God. And what was true for her, shall be true for us, if we take her as our model.

Because Mary magnifies the Lord, it is always helpful to look at her and to turn to her. As Catholics, we need to keep our eyes fixed on Our Lady, daily. A day shouldn’t go by without thinking of her, considering her example, talking to her, praying with her. Every Catholic house should have a crucifix and a statue or image of the Blessed Virgin so that we don’t forget who we are and what we are called to be, and the reason for our hope.

Friday night, I offered an adult faith formation session on some spiritual lessons from the life of St. John Vianney. I shared how during his seminary years, the saint dedicated himself to Our Lady through the consecration of St. Louis Marie de Montford. Many of you may have come across this devotion, it’s been popular for a few hundred years. In fact, Pope St. John Paul II took as his papal motto words from de Montford’s book. “Totus Tuus” I Am all yours, and all that I have belongs to you, oh blessed virgin mary. God entrusted himself to our Lady’s maternal care. For 9 months in the womb he was totally dependent on her. Our Lord was the first to utter “totus tuus” to Mary. And so, Totus tuus should be the motto of every Christian. For she is our mother, the mother of the church, the mother of Christians, Jesus himself said so from the cross.

John Vianney encouraged his flock to deepen their devotion to the Blessed Virgin, for vibrant Marian Devotion is a characteristic of every vibrant saint. You will not find a saint who does not love and honor from the depths of their being, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

I also shared another story from John Vianney. After ordination, in his first parish assignment, Father Vianney started a lifelong practice of praying to Our Lady to give him strength to overcome his sensual temptations. Just because one is a priest or religious, doesn’t mean we are free from all temptations. So John Vianney made a vow to God to pray daily to Our Lady the Regina Coeli for this purpose.

Even the saints go to special lengths in order to remain faithful against sensual temptations. That’s how they become saints: they go to special lengths to grow in holiness and combat temptation.

As a priest, I hear a lot about sensual temptations in the confessional, and I’m convinced that we all need a special devotion, or prayer, on a daily basis, to remain strong against those particular temptations. If it’s good enough for John Vianney, it’s good enough for us. So whether it’s lust, or gluttony, or overindulgence of drink, or laziness, say a special prayer every day to Our Lady, to help you to overcome those temptations. The Salve Regina, the Regina Coeli, the rosary, some marian prayer, every day, to overcome the sins of the flesh—that your flesh, like hers, may be one day with God.

As we stumble through life’s hardships and pitfalls, may we place our hope in her. She prays for us now, praying to obtain from God the grace to persevere our trials, to overcome our sins, to be faithful when our flesh and the world and the devil conspire against us. May we keep our eyes daily fixed on her, who is our life, our sweetness, and our hope, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.