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Thursday, August 15, 2002

Meditation
Luke 1:39-56

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord. (Luke 1:45)

Several years ago I went on a Marian pilgrimage to Ireland. During the ten days of visiting shrines, daily Masses in majestic cathedrals and deep green fields, bus rides to breathtaking scenic spots, and beautiful times of prayer camaraderie with fellow pilgrims, “normal” began to be redefined by a deeper experience of God’s presence.

When I arrived home, I returned to the pace of my everyday life. However, the memory of God’s presence never left me. In fact, it became a reminder that just as Mary believed she would experience the fulfillment of God’s promises, so too will we share in those very same promises. We are all pilgrims on the way to the glory that Mary is now experiencing in heaven.

Mary’s words of praise to God in the Magnificat reflect a rhythm of trust and obedience that resulted in a deeper life with the Lord. Pondering these words can help us join that rhythm. Reread verses 51 to 55 and remember the times when God has kept these promises to you. Recall those occasions when you put yourself on a throne of some sort, and God’s goodness in gently “dethroning” you. What about the times he “exalted” you through a sincere compliment from a friend or through an opportunity to serve his people more fully? Just think: In both situations, God was being just as faithful to you as he was to Mary.

Through her unwavering trust in God, Mary shows us the way to heaven. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that “when the course of her earthly life was completed, [Mary] was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven, where she already shares in the glory of her Son’s Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of his Body” (CCC, 974). Her life is a constant reminder that we can trust in the Lord’s promise that we too will reign, body and soul, in heaven as beloved children of God.

“All glory and praise to you, loving Father. I know that your promises will be fulfilled in my life and for eternity! I rejoice that you call me to be your own.”

First Reading -- The Sounding of the Seventh Trumpet

[19] Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, loud noises, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

The Woman Fleeing from the Dragon

[1] And 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; [2] she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery [3] And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads. [4] His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; [5] she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, [6] and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. [10] And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.

Some different words from a different translation (Navarre Bible)