The Gospel for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is taken from Luke 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. 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 the promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever. Mary remained with her about three months, then return to her home.

There are many things that God has done that are shocking to humanity. And certainly one of them is choosing a woman and saying that I need you. God needs you to help him create a human divine figure. It will be the model for the world of who we are to become. It’s an incredible privilege. But even more than that, it is an incredible way of imagining the dignity that Jesus has engaged us in.

He is not going to save us alone. He is only going to save us through one another. Please take a few moments to reflect upon the thoughts that I’ve offered in these reflections, and then I will offer a closing prayer. Sam Satan. Satan. Satan Sa Sam Sa Foreign Closing Prayer Father, the dignity that God wants us to have about the way in which he has created us to be a part of saving the world, establishing the kingdom.

Keep us always engaged in that excitement, enthusiasm for what he is doing with us, for us, through us. And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen.