Feast of the Assumption

 In the first reading today we hear that the child to be born of the woman "clothed with the sun" will "rule all the nations with a rod of iron. (Rev 12: 5) In the Magnificat, from the gospel we hear that: "... he (God) has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones... and sent the rich away empty." (Lk1: 51-53) The humble life of the maiden from Nazareth is, in the mystery of the Assumption, participated intimately and fully in the revolution brought about by the life, death and resurrection of her Son. This cosmic altering and transforming reality is not a questions of "ghosts and mirrors." It is the ultimate and complete destruction of the empire of sin and death. This has implications not just at the end of time. It may be gradual but the first fruits of the new creation are already manifested in the body and soul of Our Lady. This process will not stop until the providential will of the Holy Trinity has been accomplished: "Then comes the end, then he (Jesus) hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For Christ must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death." (1 Cor 15: 24-26) Thus, the Assumption is not just an historical event but also a sign of God's power to work through the human body, in all its weakness, to bring about his glorious plan. It gives us confidence to ask her intercession knowing that she already shares in the victory that we aspire to: "But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us up with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show us the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (Eph 2: 4-7)