A Sign of Hope and Comfort

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not only a very special solemnity in the Marist World, when many of us took the habit or pronounced our vows on this day, myself being one of them 5o years ago, but it is also a major celebration throughout the Catholic Church. The Entrance Antiphon for this day is taken from the Book of Revelation, "A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars." (Rev 12:1). Not only is this a startling image of Mary and the delight of artists, but it is a sign of hope and comfort, for as the passage continues, the woman is threatened by a beast who seeks to devour the child she brings forth. The woman is the Church, the child, Jesus, the beast, Satan. As we know, Jesus conquers evil once and for all through his passion, death and resurrection.
We need this feast today as we read headlines about the amazing decline in Church weddings for Catholics and other Christians. Not a welcome bit of news on a beautiful August Sunday morning. Yet the Prophet, Isaiah can write eight centuries before Christ,
"I rejoice heartily in the Lord,
in my God is the joy of my soul;
for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation....
As the earth brings forth its plants,
and a garden makes its growth spring up,
so will the Lord God make justice and praise
spring up before all the nations." (Is 61: 10,11)

In the 8th century after Christ, St. Gemanus of Constantinople sings the praise of Mary who does not abandon us but "delights to remain in our midst manifesting herself in various ways" because her spirit is a companion spirit of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies and guides the Church.
Surely Fatima and Lourdes and in out time, the tremendous outpouring of faith in Medjugorje, attest to this on-going care and presence among us. So, we have every cause to "rejoice heartily in the Lord with Mary, the Church and the Marist World, for we have seen the fulfillment of "the promise of mercy made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever" (Lk 1: 54-55).
Bro. Rene