Little brother avi bala
bitra AUG
2021 15 SUN
ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Rev 11:19; 12:1-6,10; Ps 45; 1Cor 15:20-27; Lk 1:39-56
Welcome to a
short reflection on the ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED
VIRGIN MARY
The
Catholic Church teaches as dogma that the Virgin Mary “having completed
the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”
This
doctrine was dogmatically defined by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950,
in the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus, while
exercising papal infallibility.
But
Pope Pius was not declaring the belief in the Assumption as something new.
The
teaching of the Assumption of Mary became widespread across the
Christian world, having been celebrated liturgically as early as the 5th
century in the East.
The
theological debate about the Assumption continued, following the Reformation, climaxing
in 1950 when Pope Pius XII defined it as a dogma for the Catholic
Church.
Pope
Pius took advantage of the modern means of communication available in his time
and asked bishops worldwide to tell him what the people believed and practised
–
the sensus fideum (the sense of the faithful).
The
dogmatic declaration that the Assumption was part of the “deposit of faith”
for all Catholics was just the formal declaration of what the faithful already
believed and practised.
The
angel Gabriel declared Mary to be “full of grace” and “God’s highly favoured daughter.”
Mary
conceived Jesus, the son of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit as a
consequence of accepting God’s plan for her.
Jesus
declared, blessed are those who heard and kept
the word of God, as Mary was
faithfully doing.
After
this manner, the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith
and faithfully persevered in her union with her son unto the
cross, where she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, grieving
exceedingly with her only begotten son, uniting herself with a
maternal heart with his sacrifice, and lovingly consenting to the
immolation of this victim which she herself had brought forth.
All
these biblical statements, and others, led the Church to conclude that because
of her role as mother of the Messiah, Mary would be
preserved from original sin and its consequences.
Her freedom
from sin was accomplished by reason of Jesus’ foreseen redemptive death
on the cross.
As
such, it would not be possible for Mary, whose womb carried the son of
God, to suffer the corruption of the body that all people experience
after death.
The
Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all guilt of original sin,
on the completion of her earthly sojourn, was taken up body and soul
into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as queen of
the universe, that she might be the more fully conformed to her
son, the Lord of lords and the conqueror of sin and death.
The
assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary is an invitation
and a challenge for each one of us…
To focus our
attention on things of heaven and not get fixated with
cares of this world!
-
To live a life
of holiness and doing God’s Will at all times and in
every situation!
-
To share in the passion
of the Lord and become partakers in the salvation of the world!
-
To realize that
to be a Saint is a call of every Christian and we need to
prioritize our life.
Mary had exclaimed,
“Behold, I am the Handmaid of the Lord” (Lk 1:38)
Mary was an
ordinary human being.
-
She too had Her
ordinary and humble beginnings.
-
She too went
through common life’s struggles and strains.
But through
these “ordinary” circumstances…
-
God “raised”
Her to the Heights
-
God “assumed”
Her into Glory
… simply because She “found
favour with God” and lived a life
worthy of that call in total submission, humble obedience
and loyal faithfulness!
-
Avinash Bitra OFM Cap.
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