Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Mary is assumed into heaven which means she went there body and soul. She did not die. In some countries this feast is called the Dormition, falling asleep. She did not experience death, which makes sense since she had no sin. This is one of the mysteries of our faith, like the Trinity which we will understand in heaven. We cannot get it by our reason since our reason is limited and we cannot put God into our little heads. With our reason we can see that there must be a God who brings order to the world, to the universe. But we can’t convince the world that God exists with our reason, hopefully, we can do it with our lives.
The assumption of Mary into heaven is a great feast and the important thing for us is to be centered on Christ, since we are Christians, not Marianists, if you know what I mean. The Virgin Mary is always in relation to Jesus Christ. She said at Cana: do whatever he tells you. She does not put herself in the center; she always refers to her Son. But without Mary, Jesus would not have known that they were lacking wine. This is the mission of Mary: to speak to the Lord about what you need. Mary, I am sad and depressed, speak to Him about me, get him to help me.
In the gospels Mary never takes the limelight away from Jesus. She does not talk a lot. To the angel she said: be it done unto me according to your word. She also said, my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, as we heard today. When Jesus is lost, she said: why did you do this to us, how worried your father and I were. At Cana, she says they have no wine. Even at the foot of the cross, Mary says nothing. She is never the protagonist in the gospels.
Jesus and Mary are now both alive and living in heaven. Mary sometimes appears to children or to adolescents or others, but she only repeats what we know already. In today’s gospel the protagonist is not Mary; it is the person inside of her, Jesus Christ. He is the one who makes the child inside of Elizabeth jump, not Mary. She brings Christ to her cousin; she brings the Good News; how wonderful is that!
I love the words of the gospel: that she goes in great haste, with eagerness to see Elizabeth. She goes quickly because she loves so much that she cannot wait. She rushes to make Christ known to others; she goes running with this good news. I wish I was a little bit like her. She only says one word when she arrives: Shalom or peace. Where are you in this gospel? I would say that you and I are Elizabeth because she is sterile and so are we when we are without God. You can’t bear fruit. You can’t die to yourself in marriage, you need God’s help. Also to live chastity, to accept the cancer you have, to get old with joy and without resignation, you need the presence of God. For all the sufferings in our life, we need the Lord.
John the Baptist jumps when he recognizes the presence of Jesus Christ. He is jumping in the womb of Elizabeth; it is not just a little kick; he jumps for joy. You do the same when you meet Jesus; when you find him you are filled with joy. You experience joy when you come to the eucharist, when you hear a word from God in the preaching and then you announce what you have heard with great joy.
Elizabeth’s humility is impressive. She says who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Who am I that the Lord loves me in this way that he comes to me? Lord, you also come to me in all my sins even when I hate my mother-in-law, when I am about to destroy my marriage, even when I was living in sin, you still love me. You are the only one who loves me as I am. A Christian is one who is on the path to meet Jesus Christ, to say what Elizabeth said: who am I, Lord, that you come to me? This is what it means to be a Christian. One day you can be told: blessed are you because you believed in what the Lord told you.
How can it be that Elizabeth was six months pregnant when she was sterile. To be a Christian you have to see a Christian. Others can’t be convinced with reason they must be able to see it. Even if they kill a Christian, he/she does not despise them. They see that it’s possible to live faithfully to your spouse, that you can live chastity, that you can stop stealing, that you can be generous with the goods that you have. It is not normal to see someone who turns the other cheek, who loves the enemy.
It is possible to show your life without pretensions, with humility. That you are not selfish. This is the greatness of the Lord. That he can cast down the mighty from their thrones and lift up the lowly. Humility is not to I put on a humble face and a weak voice. Your humility is something internal, not external. It’s something in the heart. It is to know who you are, what you can do and what you can’t do.
Humility comes from the word humus. That is the decomposed manure that makes up the top layer of soil full of organic matter that gives nutrients to the soul. We are called to be this humus. That you know yourself, that you lack wine, you lack joy. God is the one who casts down the mighty, from their thrones and lifts up the lowly. He is not a God who gets mad. He never gets angry with any of us. He’s not a God who punishes. He’s a God who helps us. He fills the hungry with good things. He doesn’t come with a stick in his hand.
The only thing that makes fills me is the love of God. So, cheer up brothers, I announce a God that loves you. He wants to make you happy, full of joy. Every day he comes to announce this love to you through Mary.
Let us rely on Mary as a mother. We have a mother that is the Church, but also Mary is our mother and who is our father? It is God. The mother shows us who the father is, and she shows us her son and your brother, Jesus Christ. We cannot be motherless, we have a wonderful mother, so we should go to her. She wants to help you. To give you a little bit this spirit, go to Jesus through Mary (Ad Jesum Per Mariam). It is much easier and more direct. She is the one who teaches us how to be a Christian so that we can see the Risen Lord in our daily lives.