Monday August 15, 2022

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Mary’s Song Is Also Ours

Greeting

Glory and honor to our risen Lord,
whose victory over death
was shared first by her
who was closest to him,
his Mother, the Virgin Mary.
May her Son, the Lord Jesus, be always with you.
R/ And also with you.

Introduction by the Celebrant

On today's feast of the Assumption we honor Mary not merely for a great privilege. We celebrate God's victory in her faith, her poverty and her unassuming service. As she was sure of God's love, her faith prompted her to accept the unexpected. Humbly and without reservation she served God's plans. She followed her Son in his life and his passion. This is why she is the first of all believers and the model of what the Church is called to be and what is in store for us. This is why she was the first to share in the total victory of her Son over death and is with him in heaven, body and soul. Let us thank God today for Mary.

Penitential Act

It is easy to praise Mary for the great things
which God did for her.
But have we tried with her to believe
and love and render humble service?
Let us examine ourselves.
(PAUSE)
Lord Jesus, you came to serve the Father and us,
and your mother served with you:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Jesus Christ, you did the will of the Father to the end
and your mother stood by your side:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you defeated death
by rising and ascending into heaven,
and you let your mother share in your glory
with her body and soul:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Almighty God, have mercy on us,
forgive us our reluctant service and poor faith
and take us up, like Mary,
into the joys of everlasting life. R/ Amen.

Opening Prayer

Let us thank God with Mary
and ask him for the strength of her faith
(PAUSE)
Lord our God,
you took Mary up into heaven
with her body as well as with her soul,
to share in the definitive triumph over death
of Jesus, your Son,
because on earth she humbly served your plans
as the first of those who believe.
Grant us her attitude
of trusting openness to your will,
that you may overcome evil and death in us
and lead us safely with Mary
into your everlasting joy.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

First reading: Mary Sums Up the Church

Christ is victorious over evil and is taken up into heaven. The woman of our text is the Church, but as Mary was eminently all that the Church is called to be, the liturgy applies the text to her. She is victorious with her Son.

Reading 1: RV 11:19A; 12:1-6A, 10AB

God's temple in heaven was opened,
and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.
A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under 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.
Then another sign appeared in the sky;
it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns,
and on its heads were seven diadems.
Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky
and hurled them down to the earth.
Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth,
to devour her child when she gave birth.
She gave birth to a son, a male child,
destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.
Her child was caught up to God and his throne.
The woman herself fled into the desert
where she had a place prepared by God.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed One."

Responsorial Psalm 45:10, 11, 12, 16

(10bc) The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
The queen takes her place at your right hand in gold of Ophir.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear,
forget your people and your father's house.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
So shall the king desire your beauty;
for he is your lord.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
They are borne in with gladness and joy;
they enter the palace of the king.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.

Reading 2: 1 COR 15:20-27

Brothers and sisters:
Christ has been raised from the dead,
the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since death came through man,
the resurrection of the dead came also through man.
For just as in Adam all die,
so too in Christ shall all be brought to life,
but each one in proper order:
Christ the first fruits;
then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ;
then comes the end,
when he hands over the Kingdom to his God and Father,
when he has destroyed every sovereignty
and every authority and power.
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death,
for "he subjected everything under his feet."

Alleluia

Alleluia, alleluia.
Mary is taken up to heaven;
a chorus of angels exults.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: LK 1:39-56

Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
"Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled."
And Mary said:
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever."
Mary remained with her about three months
and then returned to her home.

Intercessions

With the help of Mary, our mother, let us pray together to our Father in heaven that he may look with favor upon us, his servants and do great things in us. Let us say:

R/ Lord, hear your people.

- That the Lord may show his love to all those who try to serve him well, and that he may show his forgiving mercy to those who have failed him and one another, let us pray:

R/ Lord, hear your people.

- That the Lord may show his power and defend the humble people who are trampled upon, and dispose us all to respect and love them, let us pray:

R/ Lord, hear your people.

- That the Lord may give us the will and the strength to accomplish his word in our life, day after day, single-mindedly and joyfully, let us pray:

            R/ Lord, hear your people.

- That the Lord make us aware of the poverty of our heart, so that he can fill us with his gentleness, his acceptance of people, his care for the poor, let us pray:

R/ Lord, hear your people.

- That the Lord may see to it that the hungry are fed, and dispose people and the mighty of the world to give everyone a fair share in the earth's goods, let us pray:

            R/ Lord, hear your people.

- That the Lord may take up all our beloved dead into his home of everlasting joy, let us pray:

R/ Lord, hear your people.

Lord our God, on the feast of Mary's Assumption we pray: fill us with all good things that we may bless your holy name through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
in the signs of this bread and this wine
we make ourselves available to you
for giving your Son to the world
as Mary gave him once to us.
Let the world discover the presence of Jesus
in our humble service,
in our efforts to destroy all evil
and to build your world of life and hope.
Do these great things in us
through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer

With Mary, we thank the Father today for the great things he has done in her and which he keeps doing for us through Jesus our Lord.

Invitation to the Lord's Prayer

In the words of Jesus
we pray to our Father
that his will may be done in us. R/ Our Father...

Deliver Us

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil
and from the ultimate enemy, death.
Let your compassion and faithful love
reach from age to age
and fill the hungry with good things,
as we wait in joyful hope
for our final resurrection
at the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...

Invitation to Communion

This is Jesus, the Lord, who said:
Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood
will live for ever
and I will raise them up on the last day.
Happy are we to be invited
to eat the Lord's body
and to share in his victory. R/ Lord, I am not worthy....

Prayer after Communion

God, who lifts up the humble,
in Mary you have given us a vision
of a Church that knows how to serve
and to hold on to you in life and in death.
With Mary, and in the strength of her Son,
may we be poor and humble enough
to listen to your word and live by it,
to visit our neighbor in need,
and be to the world the body of your Son,
until you let us share in your glory for ever. R/ Amen.

Blessing

What Mary was on earth,
we the Church are called to be:
believing in God's ways and guidance
even without knowing what the future will bring,
open to one another's needs,
serving with all that is in us.
May God give you this strength and bless you:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.

Let us go in peace to love and serve God in people. R/ Thanks be to God.

Commentary

Dream It Like Mary

If the Assumption of Mary is an assurance of the destiny that awaits us if we choose well, the Magnificat of Mary is a celebration of what God can do in our earthly lives. The Magnificat proclaims a new world order where the people on the margins will be at the center and there will be a new way of being. It is a powerful dream that challenges powers that be.  History confirms how the earthly powers trembled before this hymn: In 1805, the British East India Company banned its recitation in Kolkata. In 1970s, the Argentinian military junta banned it when mothers of the “disappeared” citizens used it to call for nonviolent resistance. In 1980s the Government of Guatemala banned its public recitation. The Magnificat is Mary boldly proclaiming God’s dream. We shall fearlessly realize her dream for the world so as to share in her destiny in heaven.

Reflection taken from Bible Diary 2022;

written by Fr.Paulson Velyannoor, CMF

Coffee With God: The Almighty has done great things for me