Missionaries of the Sacred

God is Spirit. He created human flesh and found it very good. Flesh is blessed by God. Through the incarnation of Jesus, flesh was sanctified by God. The human flesh was vulnerable and prone to sin and temptation so it needed the creative hand of God, the blessing of God and Sanctification by God. Through the assumption of Mary, it reaches another milestone; the Flesh is graced by God through Mary.

The Church teaches us that Mary with the whole reality of her life – with body and soul - has entered into that perfect fulfillment which every Christian hopes for as the one outcome and fruit of his own human life. That is the one eternal goal of man. People are called to enter with body and soul into God’s life and God’s own glory. Mary has attained her perfect beatitude -  Mary, full of grace has accomplished her earthly course, just as Christ is risen with his human nature.

Today’s Gospel teaches us a good lesson. The prayer of Mary is preceded by her good deeds: she rushed to serve the old woman Elizabeth. Though our flesh has the ability to ascend to divinity through the opening of our hearts in prayer, it is adorned further with grace through our good deeds: our sensitivity to the needs of others, our forgiving spirit, and our ability to walk an extra mile in love.

We know that the prayer of Mary, the Magnificat, is an overwhelming and powerful prayer in the history and tradition of Christianity. The Magnificat influenced Jesus so much that his ability to teach the ‘Our Father’ to his apostles had its origin in it. ‘My soul glorifies the Lord’ is equivalent to ‘Our Father who art in heaven.’ God’s blessing and sanctification happens in and through Jesus in the ‘Our Father’ and our response and gratitude in ascending to the Divine love is experienced in and through the ‘My soul glorifies the Lord’ of Mary. Mary teaches us that one lesson: to respond to God’s love with an undivided heart.

What is the lesson for us today? We are not here just to wonder and marvel at our great Mother; rather we stand by her in perfecting our own flesh, our own bodies. We have a responsibility in making it obvious that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. All temples belong to God. Let us pray that through the prayer and intercession of Mary, our bodies may be blessed, sanctified and graced by God. Thus we too may take part in the assumption of Mary. Amen.

Fr. Antony is a MSC priest from India who currently lives and works with the MSC community in California. His blog, Ametur, includes homilies for weekdays, Sundays, and Feast days.