Let us run to her as little children

"If you ever feel distressed during your day -- call upon our Lady -- just say this simple prayer: 'Mary, Mother of Jesus, please be a mother to me now.' I must admit -- this prayer has never failed me." -- Blessed Mother Teresa

Gospel Text: (LK 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,
and 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 his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.”

Mary remained with her about three months
and then returned to her home.

On this solemnity we honor and celebrate Mary, the mother of God. We celebrate the Assumption of Mary as stated in the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, LG 59: “Finally, the immaculate Virgin preserved free from all stain of original sin, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, when her earthly life was over, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, that she might be the more fully conformed to her son, the Lord of lords, (see Apoc. 19:16) and conqueror of sin and death.”

The Incarnation of Jesus was contingent upon Mary’s response. Jesus did not become human through some spontaneous generation into a powerful and magical creature that crushed all his enemies and instituted the reign of God. He becomes human just as we do, going through all the developmental stages of human life from conception in a woman’s womb through death. We can ultimately claim that God’s triumph over evil and over death is possible only with Mary’s “yes”. God gently asks Mary to accept God’s gift. Mary, accepting God’s gift unconditionally is then given a mission. And with our “Yes” to God, so are we. Each one of us, like Mary, is offered gifts, talents, opportunities, and grace. As we celebrate Mary’s faithfulness today, let’s also think about our own yeses to the Lord, the small ones as well as the big ones.

Let us open up to God’s gifts with generosity and unconditionally, like Mary did, so that the Mighty One can do great things for us and with us.