A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 8, n. 38)
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Year C – August 15, 2010 *
“In Christ, the Firstfruits”
BIBLE READINGS
Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab // I Cor 15:20-27a // Lk 1:39-56
(N.B. Series 8 of BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY LITURGY includes a prayerful study of the Sunday liturgy of Year C from the perspective of the Second Reading. For reflections on the Sunday liturgy of Year C based on the Gospel reading, please scroll up to the “ARCHIVES” above and open Series 2. For reflections based on the Old Testament reading, open Series 5.)
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
Last Sunday’s theme of vigilant faith finds a beautiful resonance in today’s feast of the assumption into heaven of the Blessed Virgin Mary, body and soul. Her faithful discipleship and intimate participation in the paschal mystery of her Redeemer Son, for whom she kept vigil at the foot of the cross, led to her own glorification. Today’s feast of the assumption celebrates the fruit of her Son’s paschal sacrifice - eternal life and joy in God’s kingdom - bestowed upon her in fullness.
The Blessed Mother Mary points to our own glorious destiny with God. The French liturgical scholar Louis Bouyer remarks: “Mary should be looked on as the living pledge of Christ’s promises to the Church: that where he is, we also shall be; then the glory given him by the Father he will give to us, as he received it.”
The First Reading (Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab) depicts a “great sign in the sky” – a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. The image of a woman in childbirth is used to describe creative acts that involve time and sacrifice in order to be brought to full maturity. The heavenly vision of the woman in labor in the Book of Revelation evokes the painful and challenging process of the birth of Christ in the hearts of the faithful, as well as Mary’s vital role in the birthing of the Church.
The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 7, remark: “Moreover, because of her role in relationship to her Son, the faithful, and the community, Mary is the image of the Church that is still giving faithful birth to believers, and which is already in glory in heaven with God … The joy of the Virgin of Bethlehem is inseparable from the pain of the mother who watched her Son die on the cross at Calvary. She followed a path that led to the paschal climax quite similar to that of her Son; the feast of Assumption celebrates the Pasch of Mary, which foreshadows that of the Church.”
The Second Reading (I Cor 15:20-27a) gives meaning to the Pasch of Mary. From it we can deduce that the power of Christ’s own resurrection makes the mystery of Mary’s assumption possible. Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the “firstfruits” of those who have fallen asleep. The “firstfruits” represent the whole. In Jewish cultic terms, the offering of “firstfruits” symbolizes the dedication of the whole harvest to God. As “firstfruits”, the Risen Lord Jesus pledges the resurrection of us all, of which Mary is the exemplar of a promise fulfilled. Aelred Rosser comments: “In Christ’s resurrection we see the promise of our own resurrection. In Mary’s assumption we see that promise already fulfilled in one like ourselves. In Mary’s triumph we see the reign of God already triumphant over every other sovereignty and power.”
Indeed, God triumphs over death. Death is ultimately vanquished through the power of Christ’s resurrection. It is no longer a dismal end. In Christ, the “firstfruits”, death becomes a passage or passing over to eternal life. Though Christ’s victorious Passover is complete, ours is not yet. As Church, we need to open ourselves to the effects of Christ’s saving works and offer the “fruits” of redemption to the fragmented humanity of the “here and now”. Mary’s assumption is a powerful sign that in our intimate union and full response to Christ, the Paschal Mystery is brought to fruition. Likewise, Mary, in her Magnificat (cf. Lk 1:39-56), invites us to praise the Lord for the great things he has done for her and to proclaim with her the final victory of God, of which she is a full recipient. With Mary assumed into heaven, we glorify the Lord!
The following story illustrates that “signs” from heaven, akin to the sacred sign of Mary’s assumption, continue to be poured upon the life of believers today (cf. Richard Armstron, “Hailing Mary” in Amazing Grace for the Catholic Heart, ed. Jeff Cavins, et. al. West Chester: Ascension Press, 2004, p. 270-271). This incident happened at the Marian shrine in Knock, Ireland, the same place where Mary appeared to fifteen people on August 21, 1879. That vision lasted for two hours in the pouring rain. While all fifteen of the visionaries were soaked, no rain fell in the direction of the gable of St. John the Baptist Church, where the ground remained dry.
My wife, Pat, and I made our first extended visit to Ireland in 1998. Early in April we took a side trip from Dublin to the small village of Knock. It is here that on August 21, 1879, fifteen people ranging in age from six to seventy-five, watched an apparition of the Blessed Mother with St. Joseph, St. John the Apostle, and the Lamb of God.
During our pilgrimage, Pat and I stayed at an old convent run as a bed-and-breakfast by the Sisters of Mercy. On this day, the sky was overcast but the weather was unusually dry. I had just purchased a container for holy water at one of the small shops lining the tiny main road in Knock. While Pat stayed back at our room, I went to collect the holy water from one of the wells set in a row framed by fieldstones and small water taps. As I passed the old church where the apparition of 1879 had taken place, I paused, reflecting on my rich spiritual life that had begun when I converted to Catholicism while attending a Jesuit prep school in California.
I had been through life’s proverbial highs and lows for seventy years – hospitalized several times with life-threatening childhood asthma, severely wounded in combat during the Korean Conflict, survived heart attacks and many surgeries. I had a solid, enriching marriage which produced many sons and many grandchildren. Although I was a devout Catholic, confident in our Lord, I suddenly pondered the fact that all my life, I had never had a distinct sign from heaven. My wife, also a convert, had three times received heavenly signs, including a loving, gentle voice that encouraged her to persevere through an especially arduous illness. “Why”, I asked part thinking and part praying, “have I never been privileged to experience such divine confirmation?”
When I reached the well for holy water to bring back to share with family and friends, I bent to push the small buttoned tap releasing the blessed water. As I touched the button, I felt a “raining” on my head so I instinctively pulled up my jacket hood. Raising my eyes, my breath caught in my throat. There was no rain – only perfect little white hailstones the size of marbles. I watched them bounce off the well stones in front of me and felt them falling on my head. When I looked on either side of me and across the road I was amazed to realize the hailstones were falling only on me. There were none falling anywhere else in the area. The shower lasted perhaps twenty seconds and then stopped.
My thoughts did not crystallize at first other than feeling awe that I was the only one being touched by the unusual hail shower. I hurriedly finished filling the container, crossed the road and walked back to the convent room where my wife was meditating. As I entered the door, she looked up and saw something unusual in my expression. “What is it?” she asked. “Are you okay?” After relating my story, Pat smiled knowingly and said, “Hail, Mary!” It was at that moment that it hit me; I had received my sign.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
How does the sign of “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet and wearing a crown of twelve stars” affect on you? What message can you glean from the image of a woman in labor to give birth to a child? What Marian image do you find most significant?
How did Mary participate in Christ’s paschal sacrifice as well as in the victorious event of his resurrection, as “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep”? How do you participate in the saving events, personally and as a community?
How does the meaning of the Blessed Mother’s assumption into heaven affect you personally? Do you find the sacred sign of Mary’s assumption relevant as well as challenging?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father,
we thank you for giving us the great sign in the sky
of “the woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon beneath her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars”.
That woman gloriously arrayed symbolizes Mary,
her glorious triumph in Christ
and her participation in the heavenly glory.
You chose Mary of Nazareth, the anawim,
to be the Mother of Jesus, your divine Son.
In Mary’s assumption into heaven,
body and soul,
we see our own beauty and glorious destiny in Christ.
But the Blessed Virgin is also a model
of intimate participation in Christ’s paschal mystery.
She labored to give birth to her Child.
She stood by the cross of her dying Son
at the altar of sacrifice.
Help us to be like Mary, the true disciple,
with her sterling qualities of vigilant faith and self-giving love.
Her Son Jesus Christ rose from the dead
and became the “firstfruits” of those who have fallen asleep.
Mother Mary was graced fully
with the victory of Christ’s resurrection and glorification.
She is the exemplary recipient of the “fruits” of redemption.
Teach us to be receptive to grace.
Grant that we may truly experience the power of the resurrection
and relish the “firstfruits” of salvation.
United with Mary assumed into heaven,
we glorify you and exult in your goodness,
now and forever.
Assembly: Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (I Cor 15:20)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
ACTION PLAN: Pray that Mary, assumed into heaven, may intercede for us as we endeavor to spread the “firstfruits” of Christ’s redemption to the fragmented humanity of our modern society. By our preferential option for the poor and vulnerable, let us allow the people of today to have a glimpse of our glorious destiny in heaven.
ACTION PLAN: That we may grasp more deeply the personal significance for us of Christ as the “firstfruits” and of the Blessed Mother’s vital role in salvation history, make an effort to spend an hour in Eucharistic Adoration. Visit the PDDM WEB site (www.pddm.us) for the EUCHARISTIC ADORATION THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR: A Weekly Pastoral Tool (Year C, vol. 6, # 38).
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US