Rev. 11:19a, 12:1-6a, 10ab; 1 Cor. 15:20-26; Lk.
1:39-56
When King
Ahasuerus of Persia was looking for a new queen, he asked that all the fair
young women of the kingdom come to the palace. Mordecai, a Jew who served in
the palace, brought his niece, Esther. She was beautiful,
and "the king loved Esther above all the women" (Esth. 2:17). She became his new queen.
and "the king loved Esther above all the women" (Esth. 2:17). She became his new queen.
The king
placed a man named Haman over all the princes in his kingdom and ordered all
the servants to bow before Haman.
Haman
told the king that there was a people in his land who would not obey the laws
and who, therefore, should be destroyed. The king agreed and offered a reward
to those who would kill the Jews.
Esther
and Mordecai realized that to save their people, Esther would have to go before
the king and plead for them. This was a dangerous thing to do, because no one
was to go before the king without being called. Esther asked that her people
fast and pray for three days for her.
The
Pleading of Queen Esther saved the people of Israel from the punishment of
the king. Today we are celebrating the feast of a greater queen, "Queen of
all queens" who has been pleading for the whole humanity for centuries.
The
pleading of Our Lady begins in the wedding at Cana. Her pleading led Jesus
to perform his first miracle.
On the
third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was
there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his
disciples. When the wine gave out, the mother of
Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her,
"O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet
come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells
you." Now six stone jars were standing there,
for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty
gallons. Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And
they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, "Now draw some out,
and take it to the steward of the feast." So they took it. When
the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine. (Jn 2:1-8)
From Cana
to Calvary and from Calvary to this day our lady has been pleading on
behalf of humanity. On May 13 of 1917 in Fatima, Portugal, a
supernatural event occurred in which the Virgin Mary appeared to three children
as they were tending sheep. In the well water on property owned by the family
of one of the children, they saw an apparition of a beautiful woman holding a
rosary in her hand. As a storm broke and the children ran for cover, they again
saw the vision of the woman in the air just above an oak tree, who reassured
them not to be afraid, saying "I come from heaven." In the following
days, this apparition appeared to them six more times, the last being in
October of 1917, during which she instructed them to pray the Rosary in order
to end World War I. For centuries, the Virgin Mary has appeared to the
faithful, requesting devotion and promising comfort.
Today we
are celebrating the Feast of the "Assumption of Our Lady". The Origin
of the Catholic belief in the Assumption of Mary goes back to many centuries.
It was defined as a Catholic Doctrine by Pope Pius X!! on November 1, 1950. The
proclamation of the Church states that, revealed by God, the Immaculate Virgin,
preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly
life was finished, she was taken up body and soul into Heavenly glory.
The
assumption of Mary's body and soul into heaven is the crowning gift of God to
her, the last jewel in a long chain of gifts he had bestowed on her. God
granted to Mary three privileges, which no other human being can ever claim.
She was called the mother God; she was not touched by sin; and she was taken up
body and soul to heaven.
Why has
Mary been granted such honours? She has been granted these honours because she
proved herself worthy. In today's Gospel we hear Mary declare,
"Almighty has done great things for me."
But when
we look at Mary's life from human point of view we see that it had been a
series of challenges. The Annunciation, birth of Jesus, flight to Egypt,
Jesus' turbulent ministry and his crucifixion.
Mary's
challenges were many. The message of the Angel confused her. The angel
said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with
God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will
name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most
High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He
will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no
end." Mary said to the angel, "How can
this be, since I am a virgin?"
The angel
said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the
Most High will overshadow you." Mary's response is very important. She accepted
the challenge and responded, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it
be with me according to your word."
Her life
with St Joseph thereafter was again another challenge. She began life as the
wife of a carpenter, a poor working man's wife, unnoticed by men. Though she
was insignificant and in her humble state as we might see it, she was
significant to God.
The birth
of Jesus was a great challenge she had to face. "She gave birth to her
first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger,
because there was no place for them in the inn."
The next
challenge she had to bear was the anger of Herod. To protect the child from him she
had to escape to Egypt. "An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a
dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt,
and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child,
to destroy him." Then Joseph[a] got
up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt.
Then
comes Jesus' turbulent ministry and his death on the cross. In the midst of
these troubles Mary remained faithful to God and said, "Here am I,
the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."
As we
listen to Mary's Magnificat, Mary sets an example that our praise to God should
be much deeper because we received great blessings from the Lord.
Mary and
Elizabeth are wonderful heroines in Luke's account. The thing that impresses
him most, and the thing he wants to impress on his readers, is the lowliness
and cheerful humility of Elizabeth and Mary. Elizabeth says (1:43): "And
why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord would come to me?"
And Mary says (1:48): "The Lord has regarded the low estate of his
handmaiden." The only people whose soul can truly magnify the Lord are
people like Elizabeth and Mary—people who acknowledge their lowly estate and
are overwhelmed by the condescension of the magnificent God.
Since Our
Lady had accepted the challenges heroically, acknowledging her lowly state
before God, God has exalted her. We heard it in the first reading. "A
great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon
under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars."
As we
celebrate the Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary, let us rejoice with Our
Lady, and feel proud that we have someone to plead for us before God. Like
queen Esther pleaded for her people, Our Lady is always on our side presenting
us before the Lord.
Queen
assumed into heaven; pray for us.
Satish