“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.” (Revelation 12:1)
Reflections on the readings for the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15, 2022): REV 11:19;12:1-6,10; PS 45:10,11,12,16; 1 COR 15:20-27; LK 1:39-56
MISSIO offers “Preaching Mission,” as a homily help, providing connections to mission from the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days.
There can be no doubt of the extraordinary role that Mary has played in serving God’s desire for the everlasting welfare of His precious children.
Since at least the 6th century, many Christians have believed that at the end of her life the Blessed Virgin Mary’s body and soul were taken into heaven by the Almighty. Although there is no specific reference to this in Scriptures, it has always been thought most fitting that the Mother of Jesus Christ -- the Mother of God -- should have received this honor. Through the grace of God, Mary was born without stain of sin in her own soul; she conceived her Son, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, through the power of the Holy Spirit; and she gave birth to Him according to the Divine plan for the redemption of all the world. Indeed, after the Angel Gabriel announced that God had chosen her to be the Mother of His Son and she consented, she set off to visit her cousin who was also bearing a child as part of God’s holy design. “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?” (Luke 1:39-56) Through the presence of the Holy Infant within His mother’s womb and the grace of the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth’s son, whom we know as St. John the Baptist, was cleansed of original sin.
There can be no doubt of the extraordinary role that Mary has played in serving God’s desire for the everlasting welfare of His precious children. Pope Benedict XVI has said of the Blessed Virgin in celebrating her Assumption: “In God there is not only is there room for humankind; in humankind there is room for God. This too we see in Mary, the Holy Ark who bears the presence of God. … A great heart, the presence of God in the world, room for God within us and room for us in God … this is the symphony of this Feast, the instruction that meditating on this Solemnity gives us. Mary is the dawn and the splendor of the Church triumphant; she is the consolation and the hope of people still on the journey.” Today we rejoice in the beautiful gift she received: Mary has joined her Son in heaven. And both of whom are there waiting for us, body and soul. Just as we, too, shall one day be with them.
