Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, August 15

The Asunción The Assumption is a reality that also touches us, because it indicates to us in a luminous way our destiny, that of humanity and of history. In Mary we contemplate the reality of glory to which each one of us and the whole Church are called.

"The feast of the Assumption is a day of joy. God has won. Love has won. Life has won."

The Assumption: "Heaven has a heart".

It has become clear that love is stronger than death, that God has true strength, and his strength is goodness and love. Mary was raised to heaven body and soul: In God there is also a place for the body. Heaven is no longer for us a very distant and unknown sphere. In heaven we have a mother.

And the Mother of God, the Mother of the Son of God, is our mother. He said so himself. He made her our mother when he said to the disciple and to all of us: "Behold your mother".

The sky is open and has a heart. In the Gospel we have to listen to the Magnificat, this great poetry that came from the lips, or rather, from the heart of Mary.inspired by the Holy Spirit. In this marvelous hymn the whole soul, the whole personality of Mary is reflected. We can say that this song is a portrait, a true icon of Mary, in which we can see her as she is. I would like to highlight only two points of this great song.

Magnificat, the song of thanksgiving

It begins with the word Magnificat: my soul "magnifies" the Lord, i.e., proclaims that the Lord is great.Mary wants God to be great in the world, to be great in her life, to be present in all of us. She is not afraid. She knows that if God is great, we too are great. She does not oppress our life, but raises it up and makes it great: it is precisely then that it becomes great with the splendor of God.

The fact that our first parents thought otherwise was at the core of original sin. They feared that, if God was too big, he would take something away from their life. They thought they had to push God aside in order to have room for themselves. This has also been the great temptation of modern times, of the last three or four centuries.

This is precisely what the experience of our time has confirmed. Man is great only if God is great. With Mary we must begin to understand that this is so. We should not distance ourselves from God, but make God present, make God great in our life; then we too will be divine: we will have all the splendor of divine dignity. Let us apply this to our life. It is important that God be great among us, in public life and in private life.

Let us magnify God in public life and in private life. That means making room for God every day in our life, starting from the morning with prayer and then giving time to God, giving Sunday to God.

A second reflection. This poetry of Mary, the Magnificat, is totally original; however, at the same time, it is "woven" with "threads" of the Old Testament, with the word of God. Mary, so to speak, "made herself at home" in the word of God, lived by the word of God and understood it.

Indeed, she spoke the words of God, and her thoughts were the thoughts of God. She was illuminated by divine light and also received the inner light of wisdom. She radiated love and goodness. Mary lived by the word of God; she was imbued with the word of God. By being immersed in the word of God, by having such familiarity with the word of God, she was immersed in the word of God.

He who thinks with God, thinks well; and he who speaks with God, speaks well; he has valid criteria of judgment for all things in the world, he becomes wise, prudent and, at the same time, good; he also becomes strong and courageous, with the strength of God, who resists evil and promotes good in the world.

More and more it has been thought and said: "This God does not leave us freedom, he limits the space of our life with all his commandments. Therefore, God must disappear; we want to be autonomous, independent. Without this God, we will be gods, and we will do as we please". Benedict XVI, Homily of August 10, 2012.

The Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth

Thus Mary speaks to us, she speaks to us, she invites us to know the word of God, to love the word of God, to live with the word of God, to think with the word of God. And we can do this in many different ways: by reading Sacred Scripture, above all by taking part in Catholic MassIn the course of the year, the Holy Church opens to us the whole book of Sacred Scripture. She opens it to our life and makes it present in our life.

But I am also thinking of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, in which the word of God is applied to our life, interprets the reality of our life, helps us to enter the great "temple" of the word of God, to learn to love it and to be imbued, like Mary, with this word. Thus life becomes luminous and we have the criterion to judge, we receive goodness and strength at the same time.

The Virgin Mary, through the Assumption, was raised body and soul to the glory of heaven, and with God is queen of heaven and earth. Is it so far away from us? On the contrary. Precisely by being with God and in God, he is very close to each one of us. When she was on earth, she could only be close to a few people. By being in God, who is close to us, even more, who is within all of us, Mary participates in this closeness of God.

Being in God and with God, Mary is close to each one of us, she knows our hearts, she can hear our prayers, she can help us with her motherly goodness. She has been given to us as a "mother" - so the Lord said - to whom we can turn at every moment. She always listens to us, she is always close to us; and, being the Mother of the Son, she participates in the power of the Son, in his goodness.

We can always place our whole life in the hands of this Mother, who is always close to each one of us. On this feast day, let us thank the Lord for the gift of this Mother and ask Mary to help us find the right path every day. Amen.

Gospel (Lk 1:39-56) on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

"In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, into a city of Judah; and she entered into the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost; and she cried aloud, and said:

-Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb: from whence is it so good for me that the mother of my Lord should come to visit me? For as soon as your greeting came to my ears, the child leaped for joy in my womb; and blessed are you who have believed, for the things spoken to you by the Lord will be fulfilled.

Maria exclaimed:

-My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior:

because he has set his eyes on the humility of his handmaid; Therefore, from now on all women will call me blessed. generations.

For the Almighty has done great things in me, whose name is Santo; his mercy is poured out from generation to generation on those who fear him.

He manifested the power of his arm, scattered the proud in heart.

He overthrew the powerful from their throne and exalted the humble.

He filled the hungry with good things and the rich he sent away empty.

He protected Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, as promised to our parents, Abraham and his descendants forever.

Mary stayed with her for about three months, and returned home."

Don Francisco Varo PinedaDirector of Research at the Faculty of Theology of University of Navarra and professor of Sacred Scripture.

Excerpts from a homily delivered by Benedict XVI on August 15, 2005 at Castelgandolfo (Italy).