The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

08-15-2021Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC

Brethren, Catholic doctrine has four Marian Dogmas namely: Theotokos (Mary, the Mother of God), the Immaculate Conception, the perpetual virginity of Mary, and the Assumption. Today we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven. The doctrine was defined by Pope Pius XII in the year 1950 in his apostolic constitution munificentissimus Deus. The Pope proclaimed in this document that Mary, the Mother of God, after completing her earthly life was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven. Mary, the “New Eve,’’ lived her entire life for Christ and his Church and so attained the final bodily resurrection promised to all Christians through her assumption into heaven.

Today’s Gospel aff ords us a glimpse into her life of sacrifice and devotion to Christ and God’s people. She had just been informed by the angel Gabriel that she would conceive and bear a son by the power of the Holy Spirit and, as a sign, was informed that Elizabeth, her relative whom people called barren, was already in her sixth month of pregnancy. In spite of her own new situation, the virgin mother of Christ left Nazareth and travelled to the hill country of Judah to celebrate Elizabeth’s joy and to respond in-person and actively to her need for care. The Gospel reports that she stayed for three months. The Gospel invites us to celebrate God’s blessings in other people’s lives and to lend a hand of fellowship, empathy and charity to others even when we, ourselves, have needs.

When Mary greeted Elizabeth, John, the child in her womb, leaped for joy and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:41). The forerunner of Christ was aided by the Holy Spirit to recognize the Savior while still in their mothers’ wombs. God confirmed the sanctity of human life at conception and allowed his Spirit to cause interaction between two persons still in their mothers’ wombs. Let us cherish the gift of life which begins at conception and, like Mary, become carriers and dispensers of God’s Holy Spirit, Grace and Charity within our communities.

Fr. Manasseh

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