20150816 A GIFT AND A TASK
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First reading
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Apocalypse
11:19,12:1-6,10 ©
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The sanctuary of God
in heaven opened and the ark of the covenant could be seen inside it. Then came
flashes of lightning, peals of thunder and an earthquake, and violent hail.
Now a
great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the
moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown. She was pregnant, and
in labour, crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth. Then a second sign appeared
in the sky, a huge red dragon which had seven heads and ten horns, and each of
the seven heads crowned with a coronet. Its tail dragged a third of the stars
from the sky and dropped them to the earth, and the dragon stopped in front of
the woman as she was having the child, so that he could eat it as soon as it
was born from its mother. The woman brought a male child into the world, the
son who was to rule all the nations with an iron sceptre, and the child was
taken straight up to God and to his throne, while the woman escaped into the
desert, where God had made a place of safety ready, for her to be looked after
in the twelve hundred and sixty days.
Then I
heard a voice shout from heaven, ‘Victory and power and empire for ever have
been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ, now that the persecutor,
who accused our brothers day and night before our God, has been brought down.’
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Psalm
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Psalm
44:10-12,16 ©
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On your right
stands the queen, in garments of gold.
The
daughters of kings are among your loved ones.
On your
right stands the queen in gold of Ophir.
Listen, O daughter,
give ear to my words:
forget
your own people and your father’s house.
On your right
stands the queen, in garments of gold.
So will the king
desire your beauty:
He is
your lord, pay homage to him.
They are escorted
amid gladness and joy;
they pass
within the palace of the king.
On your right
stands the queen, in garments of gold.
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Second reading
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1 Corinthians
15:20-26 ©
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Christ has been
raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep. Death
came through one man and in the same way the resurrection of the dead has come
through one man. Just as all men die in Adam, so all men will be brought to
life in Christ; but all of them in their proper order: Christ as the
first-fruits and then, after the coming of Christ, those who belong to him.
After that will come the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father,
having done away with every sovereignty, authority and power. For he must be
king until he has put all his enemies under his feet and the last of the
enemies to be destroyed is death, for everything is to be put under his feet.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Mary has been taken
up to heaven;
all the choirs of
angels are rejoicing.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 1:39-56 ©
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Mary set out and went
as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into
Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s
greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy
Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit
from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the
child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the
promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’
And Mary
said:
‘My soul proclaims
the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit exults
in God my saviour;
because he has looked
upon his lowly handmaid.
Yes, from this day
forward all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty has
done great things for me.
Holy is his name,
and his mercy reaches
from age to age for those who fear him.
He has shown the
power of his arm,
he has routed the
proud of heart.
He has pulled down
princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.
The hungry he has
filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.
He has come to the
help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy
– according to the
promise he made to our ancestors –
of his mercy to
Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’
Mary
stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.
A GIFT
AND A TASK
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SCRIPTURE
READINGS: REV 11:19;
12:1-6.10; 1 CORINTHIANS 15:20-26;
LUKE 1:39-56
Today,
we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of our Lady. What are we celebrating?
We are celebrating the eventual victory of life over death, love over hatred,
and grace over sin. This is what St Paul envisaged when he wrote, “After
that will come the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father,
having done away with every sovereignty, authority and power. For he must be
king until he has put all his enemies under his feet and the last of the
enemies to be destroyed is death, for everything is to be put under his feet –
though when it is said that everything is subjected, this clearly cannot
include the One who subjected everything to him.”
On the
feast of the Assumption, we celebrate the final destiny not just of Mary but of
every human person. Mary, like Jesus, has gone before us to show us the
way and to inspire hope in life eternal. All the more in a secular world,
where God is denied and where the world is worshipped as god, this feast is
important in reminding us where we will be and what will happen at the end of
time, for humanity and for creation. Like Mary, we will share in the
glory of Christ and union with the Father in the Holy Spirit. In a
glorified life, death is conquered forever because we share in the life of
God. More than that, we will be reunited with our loved ones who have
gone before us.
For
Mary, this has already happened for her, although not for us. As St Paul
said, Jesus is the first fruit. He wrote, “Christ has been raised from
the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep. Death came through
one man and in the same way the resurrection of the dead has come through one
man. Just as all men die in Adam, so all men will be brought to life in Christ;
but all of them in their proper order: Christ as the first-fruits and then,
after the coming of Christ, those who belong to him.”
Why for
Mary but not for us yet? This is the question that troubled many. The
truth remains that the feast of the Assumption is a fitting conclusion of the
dogma of the Immaculate Conception. What we are celebrating on the feast
of the Assumption is the full flowering and completion of the purity of Mary
which we celebrate on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. She lived
her life in purity, in truth and love. The Church throughout the ages has
proclaimed the holiness of Mary and her exemption from sin at birth. This
is of course more than mere speculation but from hindsight. As a result
of prayer, reflection, study, the history of Christian experience of her
powerful intercession, consultation among theologians and bishops and the People
of God, the Assumption was declared a dogma in 1950. When we
look at the life of Mary, we see in Mary the holiness and purity of life which
made the Church come to realization that this is only possible because of her
Immaculate Conception. This gives her the grace to be aligned with the
will of God and the grace to live a life of Christ. She belongs to
Christ and therefore would be fitting to share in His glory. For this
reason, only she enjoys immediate glorification unlike us.
Of
course, both her Immaculate Conception and Assumption of her body into heaven
are not based on logic or necessity but purely on grace which the Lord deems
appropriate to confer on her. Indeed, the greatness of Mary was never the
result of her good works but the work of God done in and through her.
Mary said, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in
God my saviour; because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid. Yes, from this
day forward all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great
things for me.” Her blessedness is purely the grace of God; not by
her merits.
It is
not only grace but mercy. Mary said, “Holy is his name, and his mercy
reaches from age to age for those who fear him. He has shown the power of his
arm, he has routed the proud of heart. He has pulled down princes from their
thrones and exalted the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things, the
rich sent empty away. He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of
his mercy – according to the promise he made to our ancestors.” God
bestowed such blessings upon her for the sake of humanity because of His
mercy. He has come to restore us all to wholeness through Christ who was
born of the Virgin Mary. God shows Himself to be a faithful God and true
to His covenant with humanity.
God has
graced Mary with these gifts because of her role in the salvation of humanity.
Tasked to be the Mother of God, the Church understood the appropriateness of
why the mother of the Saviour was conceived Immaculate and later to share in
Christ’s glory in advance before us. This was what Elizabeth who
was inspired by the Holy Spirit said, “Of all women you are the most blessed,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit
from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the
child in my womb leapt for joy.” She is blessed not for her sake only but
for God to bless us through her. She remains for us the channel of God’s
salvific plan and blessings for us.
But
grace is not simply given without our cooperation. What is required of us is
faith. This was what Elizabeth said of Mary, “Yes, blessed is she who
believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.” The
work of Mary is faith! She too needed faith and to act in faith if
God’s grace were to operate and be effective in us. That is what they
Lord asks of us. Placing our faith in the Lord is all that is
required. We are called to surrender our life to the Lord as Mary
did. Through her cooperation with the grace of God, Christ has won
victory for us all. “The woman brought a male child into the world, the
son who was to rule all the nations with an iron scepter, and the child was
taken straight up to God and to his throne, while the woman escaped into the
desert, where God had made a place of safety ready. Then I heard a voice shout
from heaven, Victory and power and empire for ever have been won by our God and
all authority for his Christ.”
Mary
who is that woman mentioned in the first reading means that we are called to
imitate her in life and in death. The woman represents Mary as an
individual and the Church. Mary who is the mother of Christ necessarily
also by analogy becomes the mother of the Church, since Christ is the head of
the Church and we are His body. With her, we also want to say “Yes” to
the Lord at every stage of our life. She showed the way by her generosity
in consenting to be the mother of Jesus with all the complexities,
misunderstanding, ridicule, despised by her loved ones, and even possibly
stoned to death. Instead of considering the implications of her decision,
she responded immediately and selflessly to Elizabeth in her pregnancy.
Mary eventually had to suffer the persecution that followed and most of all to
suffer the shame and rejection with Jesus on the cross. But all the
while, she was always surrendering to God’s will with unwavering faith in Him,
forgiving her enemies, and always in the background supporting Jesus quietly in
His ministry. She was in union with Jesus in His life, ministry, passion
and death.
All of
us are called to share in her victory. This victory has already begun at
our baptism when we too were given the life of grace and filial adoption.
But we will share the victory on the last day at the final judgement when all
that we do will be accounted for. In the meantime the Church as pilgrim
is called to imitate Mary, who is the mother of the Church our model and
exemplar. We too are called to cooperate with the grace of baptism we have
received. This grace is continually renewed when we celebrate the other
sacraments, especially the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
For those called to a special vocation, marriage or Holy Orders, we receive
that grace anew for our mission. Hence, in view of the future before us,
we must be ready to die with Christ to our sins, and live with Him in the
glorified life by living a life of grace and charity. In this way, we too
will share in the ultimate triumph over sin and death. With Mary, we also
rejoice and say, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my
spirit exults in God my saviour; because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.
Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed, for the
Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name, and his mercy reaches
from age to age for those who fear him.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
©
All Rights Reserved
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