Monday August 15, 2022
Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Dear Followers of Jesus,
In Luke 1:39-56, Mary, pregnant with Jesus, encounters Elizabeth who is pregnant with John. Even the two unborn children seem to greet each other. This communion of love offers us a glimpse of the beauty of Mary’s life and fidelity.
God desires communion with us and we desire communion with God. In Mary’s, “yes”, she remains open to receive God and she holds in her heart all the she longs for. She maintains the love and promise of God given to her as a young girl.
In her communion with Elizbeth, Mary speaks the words of a prophet. Mary declares from her young lips that God scatters the proud in their conceit. He casts down the mighty from their thrones. He lifts up the lowly. The hungry are fed with good things and the rich are sent empty away.
Mary held in her heart all that was important for her entire life. Her prophetic witness to God was manifest in her heart, in her willingness to bear a son and care for him until death. Mary knew God’s desire for her and for the world.
We are called to do the same. We celebrate Mary’s Assumption this day because we understand that her heart held God’s desire for her and for us. She was the first to receive the promise of her Son, that heaven would be open to us all.
We are challenged to hold what is most important within our hearts. We are being formed as prophets since we know Jesus Christ. We desire communion with Him. We desire all that is good for the world and for our wellbeing. We can’t forget our witness to God’s fidelity toward us. We can’t forget his love for us under heaven. Mary challenges us not to forget and to live our lives as bearers of such a mystery, that Jesus Christ died and rose to save all people.
He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
Broken But Not Divided 
Thank you for that beautiful picture of surrender and the uplifting words. God Bless.
I pray to Mary every morning to help me to say yes as she said yes. May my heart be filled with the Love of God more each day. I pray for all people to come to know this peace. Peace to you Father Ron.
My belief in God and life after death do not give me simultaneous comfort and strength as I keep vigil by dad’s side in his icu room 8000 miles from home. He has lost all faculties and any semblance of earthly life. What remains is his steadfast sacred love for Jesus and His Mother still burning in his heart for 94 years. As Dad makes his slow ascent to heaven, God remains behind him for the final push. We hold hands praying the Hail Mary and Our Father, his voice faintly audible behind the fogged up mask. As a lawyer by profession, Dad performed his tasks with moralistic intent. In his death bed, he once again drives down a point. Love for our resurrected Christ is non-negotiable.