A reflection on the Solemnity of the Assumption
of the Blessed Virgin Mary
By Bro. Ian Cesar Granada, CJM
In a high feast such as the Assumption, the lowliness of the Blessed Mother is accentuated, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb…” The greeting-praise was not entirely due to her as the chosen one, but due to the relationship, she has with the fruit of her womb, our Lord Jesus. In her reply, the famous Magnificat of Mary exults the steadfast love of God for the lowly; a true hymn of the greatness of God is not found with the proud and wise of this world, but with the lowly ones and the poor whose hope and lives are centered on God’s benevolence and providence. The readings also bless God in the role of Mary in Salvation History. As she carried the Son of God, she became the new ark of the covenant, the bearer of God, and as she brought the Savior to the world; she engaged herself in the final battle against the dragon of sin. Indeed, she is the woman in Revelation. As St. Paul in the second reading reminds us of resurrection and the glory that awaits us, it points to the Blessed Mother as she was assumed in heaven and is one of the first fruits of Christ’s resurrection.
On November 1, 1950, Pius XII defined the Dogma of the Assumption of Mary,
“We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the immaculate Mother of God, the ever-Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.”
Saint John Eudes, borrowing Saint Augustine’s line that before conceiving Jesus in her womb, the Blessed Mother conceived him in her heart! What a beautiful line; it sheds light on our lowly lives, that like Mary our Mother, we too, can carry Jesus in our lives. Furthermore, since Jesus is our head, we, the Body of Christ, also have the capacity and potential to live Jesus in our lifetime, day after day, every high and low moment of our lives, Jesus can live again. This was true in the life of the Blessed Mother. In every event we can see in her life, it is always about Jesus, that St. John Eudes always reminds us that Jesus is the heart of Mary.
As we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption, let us rejoice with the Blessed Mother, our lives can be Jesus’ hands, feet, eyes, and life in today’s world. At the end, when our earthly life is called to end, we, too in God’s grace and divine mercy, will also share the assumption of Mary – as she opened the gates of heaven for every man and woman who believes and lives Jesus in their lives.