Asssumption Day

Asssumption Day

By Rems Noquiao

Today, the church celebrates the assumption of Mary, and we might wonder what this has to do with us. The answer is quite simple: Whatever God has done for Mary, God has done or will do for us. Mary was conceived without original sin, and in the waters of baptism, we are cleansed of original sin. Mary brought Christ into the world, in the anointing with chrism, we are commissioned to bring him into the world by what we say and do. And as Mary was assumed into heaven, a place in heaven awaits us.

In today’s gospel, we hear Mary’s great prayer of thanksgiving, a prayer we are invited to make our own: Our souls proclaim the greatness of the Lord. Our spirits rejoice in God our Savior.

During one conversation, a friend told me that he wanted the Magnificat, the prayer of Mary, to be read at his funeral. He was afraid that whoever preached at his funeral would make him out to be a good and holy man, and he wanted none of that. What he wanted people to remember was what Mary wanted people to remember: “The Mighty one has done great things for me, and holy is his name” (Luke 1:49). Mary takes no credit for anything and instead points to what God has done for her. My friend wanted to be remembered for what God had done, not for what he had done.
 

Every evening, millions of people in the church pray the Magnificat. Every time I pray it, I am reminded to remember what Mary and that old, dying priest remembered: “The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”

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