DAILY- HOMILY

AUGUST 15, 2010
FEAST, ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY
20TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – C

REVELATION 11:19; 12:1-6, 10
Then the sanctuary of God in heaven opened, and the ark of the
covenant could be seen inside it. Then came flashes of lightning,
peals of thunder and an earthquake and violent hail. Now a great sign
appeared in heaven: a woman, robed with the sun, standing on the moon,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant, and in
labour, crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth. Then a second sign
appeared in the sky: there was a huge red dragon with seven heads and
ten horns, and each of the seven heads crowned with a coronet. Its
tail swept a third of the stars from the sky and hurled them to the
ground, and the dragon stopped in front of the woman as she was at the
point of giving birth, so that it could eat the child as soon as it
was born. The woman was delivered of a boy, the son who was to rule
all the nations with an iron sceptre, and the child was taken straight
up to God and to his throne, while the woman escaped into the desert,
where God had prepared a place for her to be looked after for twelve
hundred and sixty days. Then I heard a voice shout from heaven,
'Salvation and power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and
all authority for his Christ, now that the accuser, who accused our
brothers day and night before our God, has been brought down.

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:20-26
In fact, however, Christ has been raised from the dead, as the first-
fruits of all who have fallen asleep. As it was by one man that death
came, so through one man has come the resurrection of the dead. Just
as all die in Adam, so in Christ all will be brought to life; but all
of them in their proper order: Christ the first-fruits, and next, at
his coming, those who belong to him. After that will come the end,
when he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father, having abolished
every principality, every ruling force and power. For he is to be king
until he has made his enemies his footstool, and the last of the
enemies to be done away with is death, for he has put all things under
his feet.

LUKE 1:39-56
Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could into the
hill country to a town in Judah. She went into Zechariah's house and
greeted Elizabeth. Now it happened that as soon as Elizabeth heard
Mary's greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled
with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, 'Of all women you
are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why
should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? Look,
the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt
for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by
the Lord would be fulfilled.' And Mary said: My soul proclaims the
greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour;
because he has looked upon the humiliation of his servant. Yes, from
now onwards all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has
done great things for me. Holy is his name, and his faithful love
extends age after age to those who fear him. He has used the power of
his arm, he has routed the arrogant of heart. He has pulled down
princes from their thrones and raised high the lowly. He has filled
the starving with good things, sent the rich away empty. He has come
to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his faithful love -
according to the promise he made to our ancestors -- of his mercy to
Abraham and to his descendants for ever. Mary stayed with her some
three months and then went home.

REFLECTION
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary's Assumption, that Mary did
not suffer physical corruption after her death. She was taken body and
soul upon her death into heaven. What is the significance of this
feast?

The first thing we find in Mary's life is suffering. Mary's suffering
began when she was asked to bear a son before being married to Joseph.
The anxieties in her heart, - would Joseph still accept her? If the
public finds out, will she be stoned to death in public? Later, when
she and Joseph took the child Jesus to the Temple. There, the holy man
Simeon said of Jesus: "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and
the rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be
contradicted." Turning to Mary he said, "And sorrow, like a sharp
sword, will pierce your own heart."

Suffering continued in Mary's life when in later years she saw the
opposition grow against Jesus. Her suffering reached its peak when she
stood beneath the crucified body of her Son. Mary bore her suffering
with courage and with patience. And that's where she inspires us to
bear our suffering as courageously and patiently as she did.

The second thing that we find in Mary's life is the spirit of service
to others. The spirit manifested itself when the angel Gabriel
announced that she was to be the mother of the Son of God. Her answer
was short and to the point: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word." Mary's spirit of service
continued to manifest itself when she learned of Elizabeth's pregnancy
and went to help. Finally, that spirit of service continued to
manifest itself when Mary asked help from Jesus for the young married
couple at Cana.

The third thing that we find in Mary's life is a spirit of profound
prayerfulness. This spirit of prayerfulness is seen in her prayer of
praise to God. Mary offered this prayer called the Magnificat right
after learning that Elizabeth's child leaped in the womb when she
approached Elizabeth with Jesus in her womb. Mary's spirit of
prayerfulness continued at the birth of Jesus, when the Gospel tells
us that Mary "kept all these things [connected with Jesus' birth]
reflecting on them in her heart." And it reached a special peak when
the Acts of the Apostles relates that she "devoted" herself "to
prayer" with the Apostles in preparation for the coming of the Holy
Spirit. Because of her prayerfulness, she was always ready to do the
will of God. That's why she was sinless, that's why she was taken body
and soul to heaven upon her death to be with God forever.

Mary inspires us to want to carry our cross patiently as she carried
hers. She inspires us to want to serve others generously and joyfully,
as she served them. Finally, she inspires us to pray regularly as she
did. Who can be a better Advocate than Mary our Mother?

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Glenda Bisco, Carmelita Brauso, Pat Manzon, Linda Manzon
- Ely Lara
- Jo Marcelo
- Jun Lee
- Mon Torres
- Susan
… for the personal intentions of
- Patrick C.
- Julie and Glenn Manzon, John Dale and Glenn Dale Manzon, Mary Ann
Castro, Ma. Fe and Florante De Castro, Estilita and Salvador
Escamilla, Glenn and Joel Bisco
- Sue and Andy
- Veronica Yap
- Titong V.
- Patrick and Mary Ann
… in Thanksgiving: Manzon Family, Barayoga Family
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Lourdes and Domingo Barayoga Sr., Cecile Pangilinan, Allan
Manzanilla, Ronnie Salamat
- Alberto F. Atrero
- Anastasia
Eternal rest grant unto them and may perpetual light shine upon them.
May they and all the dearly departed rest in peace.
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Sunsie L. Suyosa
- Birthday: Ofelia C. Rodavia
- Birthday: Dulce Festin Baybay
- Presbyterial Ordination: Fr. Etienne Beauregard, SJ
- In Memoriam (+): Rufina Quano Gotao
- In Memoriam (+): Potenciana Tee
… for world peace and reconciliation.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers
and for those who need our prayers the most.

Have a good day!

**************************************************

These reflections are distributed free and are for personal use only.
Feel free to send the Daily Prayer reflections to your friends,
colleagues and relatives; however, if you do, please include the
following:

+================================================+
| The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the
| priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish
| http://www.marythequeen.org
| Distributed free and for personal use only.
+================================================+

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GoogleGroup Address: http://groups.google.com/group/daily_homily
To subscribe from this free mailing service, send email to: dailyhomily@earthlink.net
To unsubscribe: daily_homily-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

© 2010 Daily-Homily