570. August 15, Assumption of Our Lady (I)

Meditations no. 501 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

By her Assumption into heaven, Mary is brought to share in Christ’s glory.

The Mother of God has fallen asleep. Around her bed are the twelve Apostles-Matthias in the place of Judas.

And we, through a grace respected by all, are also at her side.

But Jesus wants to have his Mother, body and soul, in heaven. And the heavenly court, arrayed in all its splendour, greets our Lady. You and I-children, after all-take the train of Mary’s magnificent blue cloak, and so we can watch the marvellous scene.

The Most Blessed Trinity receives and showers honours on the Daughter, Mother and Spouse of God. … And so great is the Lady’s majesty that the Angels exclaim: Who is she?

Mary has been taken to Him, to the heavenly throne where the King of Kings, in words of Sacred Scripture, calls her to be with Him forever. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledoves is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

We join in the jubilation of the angels and the heavenly court, and raise our voices in praise: Blessed are you among women. We too are overjoyed to see the one who is full of grace raised to the heights of heaven. For now in God’s presence we have a Mother who is ever interceding for us. With a child’s filial trust we place our heart next to her immaculate heart, where we are filled with love for Jesus Christ. And with our Father we ask, Lord, may our hearts be enkindled with the divine fire that burned so ardently in the heart of the Virgin Mary.

The Church prays today: O God, worker of miracles, you made the immaculate Virgin Mary share, body and soul, in your Son’s glory in heaven: direct the hearts of your children to that same glory.

The Virgin Mary’s Assumption strengthens our hope and encourages our dedication.

The liturgy for the feast of the Assumption guides our prayer: All powerful and ever-living God, you raised the sinless Virgin Mary, mother of your Son, body and soul to the glory of heaven. May we see heaven as our final goal and come to share her glory. Taken up to heaven, and crowned with glory by the Blessed Trinity, our Mother has fully obtained the goal we all hope to achieve. As a hart longs for flowing streams, so longs my soul for thee, O God. Mary has already achieved this fullness of happiness, love and peace. Our Blessed Mother has gone before us, led by God, so that all her children on earth may foster a fervent hope.

Our final goal is heaven. This is what gives meaning and direction to our earthly pilgrimage. Christ has gone before us, and with the Virgin Mary he awaits our arrival.

The thought of the reward spurs us on in our struggle to become saints. Referring to heaven’s unending happiness, our Father told us: Let us bear all the difficulties of our voyage over the seas of this life in the hope of heaven. Our goal, and that of everyone who wants to love, is to reach God and the glory of heaven. Otherwise, nothing is worthwhile. In order to get to heaven, we must be faithful. And to be faithful we have to struggle, advancing on our way even though we may sometimes fall flat on our face. With his help we will get up again. It is worthwhile to be detached from earthly goods! It is worthwhile to say ‘no’ to so many things of this world, with faith, hope and love.

Our Lady’s Assumption enlivens our hope. And we draw new strength for our efforts to sanctify all human tasks, seeking sanctity for ourselves and many other persons. Negotiamini dum venio. Trade till I come, our Lord has told us. Far from paralyzing or inhibiting our human energy, the promise of eternal life urges us on in our efforts to be faithful to our Christian commitments in the midst of the world. The hope of heaven is an imperative call to live and act responsibly. God wants us to work with a serene urgency, striving by our work to give all creation its deepest meaning and bringing all men and women what their hearts are longing for.

The Blessed Virgin, Spes nostra, is a model for our own lives. Her heroically simple and generous life, her unbounded love for God’s will, her co-redemptive effectiveness and the glory of her Assumption stir in us new energies for lovingly renewing our dedication. We turn to holy Mary, telling her, ‘Mother, we still have a long way to go on our earthly journey. Help us to remain awake and watchful.’

The hope of heaven increases our love for God.

Our true dwelling place is in heaven. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. Father, I desire that they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which thou hast given me.

In heaven, our founder wrote, a great love awaits you, with no betrayals and no deceptions. The fullness of love, the fullness of beauty and greatness and knowledge. … And it will never cloy: it will satiate, yet still you will want more. Our heart’s desire should be set on this love. My child, I as well have often considered that if love is the source of so much joy here on earth, what will it be like in heaven when all the grandeur of God, all the Wisdom of God, all the Beauty of God, all delight and colour and harmony, are poured into this little clay vessel that each of us is?

It is worthwhile! It is worthwhile saying ‘no’ to lesser loves for the sake of Love. Let me put it in another, more positive way: because I want to be faithful to Christ’s Love

Someone might say, ‘Isn’t it a bit selfish to think about heaven?’ No! Hope is a marvellous virtue that demands a strong faith. And faith and hope require a great love for the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. See how, by doing so, we live the three theological virtues. This is the spiritual process you follow each day, if you are faithful. You do so almost without realizing it, even as you hardly realize that you are breathing.

Hope leads to charity, because hope in God’s reward moves us to love him and to keep his commandments. We love God not for the reward, although we also hope to receive it, but for himself, because he is good and worthy of being loved. Do everything unselfishly, for pure love, as if there were neither reward nor punishment. But in your heart foster the glorious hope of heaven.

Although always an important virtue, we especially need to foster the virtue of hope when our own weaknesses weigh more heavily on us. At the time of temptation think of the Love that awaits you in heaven: foster the virtue of hope-it’s not a lack of generosity. Then our hope and love lead us to cry out: My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? These things I remember as I pour out my soul from the land of Jordan and Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

Heaven for us will be a life of perfect union with Christ. Our configuration with Him will be complete, and our soul will be filled to overflowing as we listen to the eternal dialogue of the three divine Persons.

They shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever.