Reading 1
Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab
God’s temple in heaven was opened,
and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.
A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.
Then another sign appeared in the sky;
it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns,
and on its heads were seven diadems.
Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky
and hurled them down to the earth.
Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth,
to devour her child when she gave birth.
She gave birth to a son, a male child,
destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.
Her child was caught up to God and his throne.
The woman herself fled into the desert
where she had a place prepared by God.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed One.”
Reading 2
1 Cor 15:20-27
Brothers and sisters:
Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since death came through man,
the resurrection of the dead came also through man.
For just as in Adam all die,
so too in Christ shall all be brought to life,
but each one in proper order:
Christ the firstfruits;
then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ;
then comes the end,
when he hands over the Kingdom to his God and Father,
when he has destroyed every sovereignty
and every authority and power.
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death,
for “he subjected everything under his feet.”
Gospel
Lk 1:39-56
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.
Meditation: Revelation 11:19; 12:1-6,10
The Assumption of the Virgin Mary
… A woman clothed with the sun. (Revelation 12:1)
Today we celebrate the unique end of one of the most exceptional lives ever lived. Mary stands out among all humanity because she trusted in God wholly and completely. Even when her life and the life of her son were on the line, Mary continued to say “yes” to God. And as a reward for such steadfast and humble faith, the church proclaims that she was assumed, body and soul, into heaven.
Imagine Mary’s faith. It wasn’t the simple, innocent faith of a young child but the mature, reasoned faith of a woman whose mind was uncluttered by sin. When the angel Gabriel announced God’s plan to her, Mary reasoned in her heart that God wouldn’t ask her to do the impossible. Surely he would protect the child in her womb. Since God himself was the author of this plan, she could trust that he would see it through to completion.
This is the kind of faith that God wants each of us to imitate. Of course, none of us will ever be as perfect in following the Lord as Mary was. She was sinless, after all!
But at the same time, God does call us to try our best to follow his plans for us. And he doesn’t leave us to do it all by ourselves. Every day, he is pouring out grace, helping us to say “yes” to him in the situations that are set before us. Every day, he offers us words of encouragement in the Scriptures so that we can trust in his provision, even when logic tells us otherwise. Every day, he seeks to clothe us in his Spirit so that each of us can bring Christ into the world through the witness of our own lives of faith.
In the end, it is a very simple path—but one that leads to the glory of heaven.
“Thank you, Mary, for saying ‘yes’ to God. I want to follow the path that you paved. Please pray for me, so that I will know the same heavenly triumph that you now know.”
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