The Assumption of Mary

We are all made in the image of God, whether we are male or female, it does not matter. That is what the book of Genesis tells us. Often we tend to create God after our own image and likeness. We make him what we want him to be, and not like he really is. We make him love what we love and hate what we hate. But in fact we have little knowledge of our creator. In the end he is incomprehensible to our limited minds. We can only come to him in faith and he will reveal himself to us. Just like he did with Mary. 
 
And we can only hope that our vision of God comes close to that of Mary when she sings: “My soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.” Mary has a combination of worshipping God and at the same time rejoice in Him. That resonates with what St. Paul writes to the Thessalonians: “rejoice always and pray without ceasing”. In the Magnificat Mary is all wrapped up in the presence of God. Her prayer is not one of the ego or about the future. She only praise Gods goodness and of the gratitude she feels towards Him. She is totally captured by the love of God. First of all she is the handmaid, willing to serve joyfully. God gave her the fullness of Grace and through her he offers it to us.
 
Today we celebrate the assumption of Mary (for the Orthodox Catholics the Dormition of Mary).  We believe that Mary has not been separated from the Christian community. She remains for each of us a sign of hope. We are called to be like her and share in the fullness of Christ’s glory. She is the model for all believers. She images our hope to be in heaven one day. We pray that we may be found worthy to live with God forever.
 
The Gospels can help us in our devotion towards the Virgin Mary. It can help us to love her, meditate on her live and ask her to pray for us.  She knows how to meditate in her heart on her Son’s words and actions. She is the faithful mother who stays near her Son in his suffering on the cross. After his resurrection she prays with the disciples to receive the Spirit who will be with them. In the “Magnificat” we see Mary’s faith and her motherly identification with her Son Jesus.
 
She proclaims God’s greatness: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, because he has looked on his lowly servant”. She is joyful that God has accepted her, even though she sees herself as lowly. God’s special care is for his little ones. She knows that God’s faithful love extends from age to age. His mercy accompanies all generations. Jesus preaches the same message: God’s mercy reaches out to us all. That’s why his disciples need to “be merciful as your Father is merciful”. In her motherly heart, Mary uniquely embodies the tenderness of God Father and Mother. She points to Jesus message that the very nature of God is compassion and love.
 
Mary also proclaims the God of the poor, who puts down princes and removes their power to oppress others. God “raises up the lowly” so that they recover their dignity. He will bring justice between rich and poor. Jesus had the same message, that the last shall be first. Mary points to Jesus’ Good News, that God is the God of the poor. Let us pray that we always follow Jesus and practice his compassionated teaching and in that way work for a better world, trusting in the God of the little ones and the neglected. Amen.