Daily Mass Gospel Reflection- Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Word on Fire Ministry ^ | August 15th, 2023 | Bishop Robert Barron

[MurphsLaw]

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Luke 1:39-56

Friends, today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The dogma of the Assumption of Mary describes the full salvation of this prime disciple of Jesus.

In the Apostles’ Creed,
we speak of our hope for “the resurrection of the body.”
Mary, assumed body and soul into heaven, has experienced precisely this resurrection
and hence becomes a sign of hope for the rest of the human race.

When we speak of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother’s body,
we are not envisioning a journey through space,
as though Mary moved up into the sky.
The “heavens” are a rich and consistent biblical symbol for the transcendent,
for a manner of existence that lies beyond our familiar dimensions of space and time.

The Assumption of Mary means that the Blessed Mother was “translated,”
in the totality of her being,
from this dimensional system to the higher one for which we use the term “heaven.” Mary,
who exists now in this other world,
is not so much somewhere else as somehow else,
and this helps to explain why we can speak of her,
especially in her heavenly state,
interceding, helping us, and praying for us.

[MurphsLaw]

+++Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and 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.”

Mary remained with her about three months
and then returned to her home.+++