There was no one on this earth closer to Jesus than Mary. She bore him, nursed him, raised him, initiated his public ministry, held him in her arms at the beginning of his life at his birth and at what appeared to be the end as he was taken down from the cross. Even more so, she was closest to Jesus because she consistently followed God’s will. When her time came to leave this life, who better than Mary to have experienced the “singular participation in her Son’s resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1997, 966)?
Today we celebrate the official dogmatic constitution issued by Pope Pius XII in 1950, the Assumption of Mary, acknowledging what the Church has recognized from the beginning, the special grace she received from her Son. Jesus is the promise and Mary is the hope that we will live eternally with our heavenly Father, for Mary is now where we will one day be, body and soul.
Jesus and Mary have undone the sin of Adam and Eve. They, in their continual faithful life of saying yes to the will of God, opened up heaven for us. In our darkest trials, when the storm clouds of sin, division, injustice, inhumanity, hatred, and violence gather, when a situation or conflict does not appear to be getting any better, when death may be imminent, and/or when a loved one has died, none of these situations nor even death has the last word. Jesus does for us who place our trust in him.
As St. Paul wrote to the Church in Corinth, Jesus “has been raised from the dead”. He is the first born of the new creation. We are invited to join Jesus in participating in his new Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, preparing ourselves in this life for eternity in the next. How? By doing what Jesus and Mary did. We are to open our heart and mind to God, hear and observe his word, and put into practice what we receive.
Mary was blessed not so much because she gave birth to the Son of God but because she heard the Word of God, pondered it in her heart, acted upon, and put it into practice. This is why the Church calls Mary the model of discipleship. Just as the moon does not radiate because of its own light but reflects the light from the sun, so Mary is like the moon because she reflects the light of her Son.
Mary radiated the light of Jesus in her thoughts, words, and actions, all her life and so shared in the resurrection of her Son as she was assumed body and soul into heaven. She is our hope that we too may follow her as she did Jesus into a deeper communion with God for eternity. May our actions and all we do reflect Jesus such that people no longer see us but the love of Jesus radiating from us. How do we radiate Christ to others?
We follow Mary’s lead by making time each day to ponder and be still. To stop, slow down, take some deep breaths, and open our hearts and minds to the will of God. Then allow this simple practice to be a regular part of the day in all that we are and do. Such that we become contemplatives in action. Receiving and sharing the love of God with others.
This practice takes time to develop. We need to be patient with God and ourselves. God begins small, gently, and slowly. If you have never spent any time sitting still or quiet, your first few times, even for five or ten minutes might feel like agony. Continue to show up each day and spend some time with God and you will, like Mary, come to know him more deeply and intimately and experience the joy of encountering Jesus in deeper and more profound ways. Prayer may begin with conversation, but it orders us to our transformation and deeper communion with God.
Photo: Stain glass of the Assumption of Mary, Holy Cross Church, Vero Beach, FL.
Spiritual Stepping Stones 