First Reading
Apocalypse 11:19; 12:1-6.10
The sanctuary of God in heaven opened, and the ark of the covenant could be
seen inside it. Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, adorned with the
sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown. She
was pregnant, and in labour, crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth. Then a
second sign appeared in the sky, a huge red dragon which had seven heads and
ten horns, and each of the seven heads crowned with a coronet. Its tail dragged a
third of the stars from the sky and dropped them to the earth, and the dragon
stopped in front of the woman as she was having the child, so that he could eat it
as soon as it was born from its mother. The woman brought a male child into the
world, the son who was to rule all the nations with an iron sceptre, and the child
was taken straight up to God and to his throne, while the woman escaped into
the desert, where God had made a place of safety ready. Then I heard a voice
shout from heaven. "Victory and power and empire for ever have been won by our
God, and all authority for his Christ."
Second Reading
1 Corinthians 15:20-26
Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep.
Death came through one man and in the same way the resurrection of the dead
has come through one man. Just as all men die in Adam, so all men will be
brought to life in Christ; but all of them in their proper order: Christ as the first-
fruits and then, after the coming of Christ, those who belong to him. After that
will come the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, having
done away with every sovereignty, authority and power. For he must be king until
he has put all his enemies under his feet and the last of the enemies to be
destroyed is death, for everything is to be put under his feet.
Gospel
Luke 1:39-56
Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah.
She went into Zechariah's house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth
heard Mary's greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the
Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, "Of all women you are the most blessed,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from
the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in
my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her
by the Lord would be fulfilled."
And Mary said: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in
God my saviour; because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid. Yes, from this day
forward all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things
for me. Holy is his name, and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear
him. He has shown the power of his arm, he has routed the proud of heart. He has
pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly. The hungry he has
filled with good things, the rich sent empty away. He has come to the help of Israel
his servant, mindful of his mercy – according to the promise he made to our
ancestors – of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever."
Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.
Meditation
The origins of this celebration seem tied to the Council of Ephesus (431) which reaffirmed Mary to be Theotokos, the Mother of God. A celebration of this Council at Jerusalem may have been united with a commemoration of Mary's death observed at a local shrine built over the supposed site of her grave. The original Eastern titles of the celebration support this: anapausis (the "resting" or "death"), metastasis (Latin transitus or "passover"). The feast spread throughout the East and was adopted at Rome in the seventh century. In the eighth century the title of the Assumption became firmly established for the feast. Today's gospel has us contemplate Mary and her cousin Elizabeth trading compliments. "Blest are you among women and blest is the fruit of your womb." If the Virgin's child is blessed, how could she be otherwise? The basis for all her privileges is her divine maternity. Intimately involved in the redemptive incarnation of the Son of God, Mary must also share in his resurrection. Her real greatness lies more in her faith, which caused her first to conceive in her heart, even before conceiving in her womb (Augustine). "Blest is she who trusted", first in the announcement made to her by the angel Gabriel, but also in the whole adventure which it implied. For a vocation is always a discovery. Mary was continually challenged to renew, to broaden, to deepen the act of faith asked of her in Nazareth. Her vocation led to the foot of the cross. There the true greatness of her faith was revealed. There her song of praise took on new depth. Thus she became the model of believers. Her assumption into the fullness of life is hope for all.