DAILY- HOMILY

15 August 2016 

ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN  

Solemnity.  White. 

Vigil:  1 Chr 15: 3–4, 15– 6; 16: 1-2 / 1 Cor 15: 54b-57 / Lk 11: 27– 28

Day:  Rev 11:19a; 12: 1 – 6a, 10ab / 1 Cor 15: 20 –27 / Lk 1: 39 - 56

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was celebrated in the East as early as the sixth century and in the West by the seventh century. On 01 November 1950 Pope Pius XII (Munificentissimus Deus) formally defined "as a divinely revealed dogma: The Immaculate Mother of God, Mary ever Virgin, after her life on earth, was assumed, body and soul, to the glory of heaven."

From the 1^st Reading: Rev 12: 1 – 2, 5 - 6  

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant with child and cried out in pain, looking to her time of delivery. . . .   She gave birth to a male child, the one who is to rule all the nations with an iron scepter; then her child was seized and taken up to God and his throne while the woman fled to the desert where God had prepared a place for her.  There she would be looked after for one thousand hundred and sixty days.

2^nd Reading:  1 Cor 15: 54b-57   

. . . The word of Scripture will be fulfilled:  Death has been swallowed up by victory.  Death, where is your victory?  Death, where is your sting? Sin is the sting of death to kill, and the Law is what gives force to sin. But give thanks to God who gives us the victory through Christ Jesus, our Lord.

From the Gospel Reading: Lk 1: 41 – 49

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leapt in her womb. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and giving a loud cry, said, "You are most blessed among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me?  The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me leapt for joy.  Blessed are you who believed that the Lord's word would come true!"

And Mary said: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God my savior!  He has looked upon his servant in her lowliness, and people forever will call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, Holy is his Name!"

Reflection

The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a call for us to celebrate the triumph and the glory of God.  The Assumption of our Lady is the fulfillment  of God's plan of salvation which unfolded in the history of the chosen people Israel, "I am in your midst"; "You are mine," and in its full realization in God becoming man of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the incarnation of God as Emmanuel, "God-with-us."

God chose Mary to be the Mother of his son, God-made-man. In the Old Testament, God was present to his people Israel in his covenant, signified by the tablets of the Law and the Ark of the Covenant, enshrined in God's Temple in Jerusalem.  In the first reading from 1 Chronicles for the Vigil Mass, the Ark is given special honor, as a sign of Israel's covenant with God.

In the reading from Revelation, we see the sign of a woman in triumph, "clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.  She was pregnant with child and cried out in pain, looking to her time of delivery. . . .   She gave birth to a male child, the one who is to rule all the nations with an iron scepter." (Rev 12: 1 -2, 5)

We are also reminded of Gn 3:15 where God curses the serpent, "I will make you enemies, you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel."

At the wedding feast at Cana, Jesus addresses his mother, "Woman, your thoughts are not mine! My hour has not yet come." (Jn 2:4) And at her request, Jesus performs his first miraculous sign. (Jn 2: 11)

At the cross, "when Jesus saw the Mother, and the disciples whom he loved, he said to the Mother, 'Woman, this is your son.' Then he said to the disciple, 'There is your mother.' "(Jn 19:26– 27a)

In the second reading from 1 Corinthians, Paul writes, "Death has been swallowed up by victory.  Death, where is your victory?  Death, where is your sting? Sin is the sting of death to kill, and the Law is what gives force to sin. But give thanks to God who gives us the victory through Christ Jesus, our Lord." (1 Cor 15: 54b – 56)

Mary's assumption into heaven, body and soul, her triumph over sin and death and the guarantee of our final destiny.  Created by God in his own likeness, our ultimate destiny is union with God.

Our hearts find joy and hope in Mary, God's Mother and our mother.  We join her in her Magnificat, proclaiming "the greatness of the Lord, and exulting in God her savior."  

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:

BIRTHDAY

     Cristie Zialcita

     Ofelia C. Rodavia

     Sharah Mae Go Kaw

     Stephanie Beatrice Dy Co

THANKSGIVING

     LDI Directors, Management & Staff & Families

OTHERS

     For the personal intentions of Ike N

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!

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