The Christian Brothers founded in Ireland by Blessed Edmund Rice and the Marist Brothers founded by Saint Marcellin Champagnat at their core have a deep devotion to Mother Mary. These large orders have played a significant role in educating the hearts of minds of many young people in the Canberra context. For the most part the impact has been upon young men and this has been through praying to Mother Mary for strength “My soul magnifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my saviour”. Whilst “She is portrayed as demure and devoted but Mary, the mother of Jesus, was also decisive and strong.” It is this grit that enabled her to navigate many of the mysteries that she faced in her lifetime.
“The first person in the Gospels to proclaim Jesus was Mary, his mother. She remains, more than 2000 years later, the most popular Christian saint. She is the most influential woman in history, and the most loved.” Greg Sheridan- Australian
The Assumption of Our Lady
“Monday, 15 August the Church celebrates the Feast Day of the Assumption of Our Lady when according to our faith, the Holy Mother, “having completed her course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory”.
The Assumption signals the end of Mary’s earthly life and marks her return to heaven to be reunited with Jesus. While the bodies of both Jesus and Mary are now in heaven, there is a difference between the Assumption and the Resurrection. Where Jesus arose from the tomb and ascended into heaven by his own power, Mary’s body was taken up to heaven by the power of her Son.
For this reason we use different words to describe each event. One is the Ascension of Christ and the other, the Assumption of Mary.” https://www.catholicweekly.com.au/the-assumption-of-our-lady-15-august/
Mary in the New Testament
“The best place to meet Mary in the New Testament is in Luke, the warmest of the Gospels, for there are more women there than in the others. There is an ancient tradition that Mary was Luke’s chief source, just as there is a tradition that Peter was Mark’s chief source.
Luke was a physician, and his Greek is the finest in the New Testament. I believe the Gospels are true and inspired. But they didn’t float down from heaven in completed form. Luke tells us of his journalistic methods. He was not an eyewitness to Jesus’ life. He got the story from primary sources.
The first thing a journalist sees in Luke is a scoop, an exclusive. He must have had a great source. Only Mary, directly or indirectly, could have provided Luke with the account of her learning of her miraculous pregnancy. That ought to be the first clue to Mary’s agency, her dynamism and activism. She knew part of the Jesus story that no one else could know. She gave that to us through Luke. By briefing Luke, she controlled the narrative for history.
Mary’s agency and dynamism run all through her personality. First of all, it is there in her accepting the gift of the Holy Spirit. Mary had to say yes for the rest of the story to proceed.
Consider the unique, and uniquely vulnerable, position Mary is in when the Archangel Gabriel visits her. Mary is a teenage girl betrothed to Joseph. Under the customs of the time, betrothal means much more than being engaged today. It was an exclusive, locked-in deal.
When an angel had appeared to Zechariah, a priest at the temple and husband of Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, he was terrified, paralysed by fear. Mary was different, much calmer reacting to much greater dislocation. Gabriel’s message to Mary is revolutionary. She will bear a child to be named Jesus, he will be called the Son of the Most High and his kingdom will have no end. Here is Mary’s decisive reply, critical for her destiny and for all of human history: “I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word.” Greg Sheridan- The Australian 7-8Aug
Reflection:
Mary the ‘first disciple’ of Jesus Christ walks with and before us in our own path of Christian discipleship. Who Mary is, we are becoming. One day we, too, will live forever with God in heavenly glory. The Assumption is a compelling celebration of Christian hope, an affirmation of the human body, and deep-down encouragement in our earthly struggles.
Where is the celebration of hope in our daily life? What are the earthly struggles that need our prayer in this moment?
Prayer- The Magnificat
My soul magnifies the Lord
And my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour;
Because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid;
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed;
Because He who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is His name;
And His mercy is from generation to generation
on those who fear Him.
He has shown might with His arm,
He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich He has sent away empty.
He has given help to Israel, his servant, mindful of His mercy
Even as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever.
Blessed Edmund Rice…pray for us.
Live Jesus in our Hearts…forever.
Mother Mary…pray for us.
Mr Michael Monagle
Assistant Principal – Mission and Identity