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Today we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. It is one of the most important Feast Days of Our Blessed Mother. This day is also important to me personally because I was ordained on August 14, 2005, and I celebrated my Thanksgiving Mass on August 15. My vocation story has Our Blessed Mother somewhere in the mix. Possibly you wouldn’t have me as a priest without her intercession. Keep praying for me!
In 1950, Pope Pius XII declared that the Assumption of Mary into heaven is an official teaching of our Church. He said, “We pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.”
There is a difference between the “Ascension” of Jesus into heaven and the “Assumption” of Mary into heaven. Jesus is the Son of God and God himself. Jesus had the power to “ascend” into heaven on his own. For Mary, she was human like us. She did not use her own power. The Assumption was a privilege extended to her by God because of the special role she played in the plan of our salvation. It was a privilege given to her as the Mother of Jesus, the Mother of God, and as Jesus’ first and foremost faithful follower. Besides, Mothers have always been special to their children! Jesus extending this kind of privilege to his mother is not out of the ordinary. I would do the same!
What we need to keep our eyes focused on this afternoon is that Mary’s greatness lies in the fact that she was humble before God, and totally surrendered herself to God. You remember her words to the angel Gabriel at The Annunciation? “Let it be done to me according to your word.” Those are words worth meditating on a lot. Totally surrendering our lives to God is by no means easy.
We are a people who prefer to be in control of our lives. We are a people who prefer to have all the different pieces of our future neatly laid out according to our terms. We are a people of five-year plans and ten-year plans. Mary was different. She was a woman who chose to approach life according to God’s terms, and not her own terms. Because she surrendered fully to God, God filled her with His presence, with His grace. This “fullness of grace” – not ¼ or ½ grace - in her life led to her assumption, body and soul, into heaven at the end of her life.
When we too surrender our lives to God just like Mary, we allow ourselves to be filled with grace. Filled with grace, we too at the end of time will be where Mary is and be where God is.
One way for us to surrender ourselves to God and be filled with the presence of God like Mary is to faithfully pray the Rosary. It is a most beautiful prayer, a prayer that can bring us closer to God, and a prayer that can keep us closer to God. Praying the Rosary helps us tune into God and our blessed Mother. We sit at the feet of Mary and meditate on the great events in the lives of Jesus and Mary, and learn from her what it means to surrender and to be authentically available to God.
Last month, I was in Rome attending the General Chapter of our Congregation of Holy Cross. It is the highest decision-making body of our Congregation. We were there to reflect on where we want to go as a Congregation; and we were there also to elect our Superior General for Congregation. One of our men who was on the ballot for Superior General texted me late at night troubled in some way. He said, “Fred, you know I am on the ballot for Superior General, but I am filled with so much anxiety. I am unsettled. I don’t know what to make of all of this.” My answer was simple – “Why don’t you turn to our Blessed Mother and pray the Rosary. Turn to our Blessed Mother. Let her teach you how to surrender to God and not be in control of anything. Let her company, her example, her prayers bring comfort to your life.”
The Mysteries of the Rosary are packed with meaning, and the repetitiveness works like a mantra. He thanked me for it!
In this Mass, may we ask God for the grace that each one of us needs to surrender and to be available to God just like Mary. May we turn to Mary and seek her Intercession. May we continue sharing with the rest of the world how Blessed, how Full of Grace, and how Highly Favored our Blessed Mother is!
Father Fred Jenga, C.S.C. is the President of Holy Cross Family Ministries. Father Fred, a native of Uganda, has multiple degrees including theology, philosophy, and communications. His native language is Lusoga and he speaks English, Luganda, Kiswahili, and Rutooro. He has been a teacher, researcher, author and family minister. Father Fred is committed to helping build God’s masterpiece one family at a time.
