Solemnity of the Assumption
Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab
Psalm 45:10, 11, 12, 16
1 Corinthians 15:20-27
Luke 1:39-56
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is Mary’s journey from time into eternity, taking with her all that it means to be human. She was a person of charity and grace, with great compassion for those around her on earth, and she continues her motherly intercessory role now from heaven.
The celebration of the Assumption is about Mary’s experience of the promise of resurrection and, at the same time, of our own sharing in the life of Christ as we continue our own journey here below, “in this valley of tears,” we, who are the “poor, banished children of Eve.”
Mary’s entrance into glory expresses the power of a living relationship with God, of faith and trust in Him and of the promise that comes true when we are open to receive Him in love.
Mary’s Magnificat, which she prays in response to the acknowledgment of her role in the process of salvation, is a compendium of the human situation. It unfolds in a beautiful way the flow of grace through a human heart that is entirely devoted to God.
From the depths of her being, Mary acknowledges first her relationship with the living God:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for He has looked upon his lowly servant.”
She sees the lasting fruit of this relationship as the work of God in her: “From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.” This is not an exultation of her own being, but of the reality of God at work in her and through her in a way that must be recognized as God’s action.
Mary also sees that the fruit of this living relationship is offered to humanity, at every level of human society. None is left out: “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.”
The action of a living relationship with God purifies each person, burning away all that is not of God and making room for the inflow of divine grace.
All of this takes place in fulfillment of divine promise in and through a community, a people who are open to God’s action in time and history: “He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever.”
The Church prays Mary’s Magnificat every day in Evening Prayer (Vespers) of the Liturgy of the Hours. It is also used as an expression of joy at other events, exulting in the action of God in the hearts of those who make a commitment of service and in the gift of reconciliation received in the sacrament of penance.
The Magnificat invites us to allow God to be glorified in us and in the life of holiness that flows from a living relationship with the One Who loves us.