The Virgin Mary made this all-time declaration when she visited her cousin, Elizabeth. This statement serves as an acknowledgment of the great things the Almighty has done for her as the Mother of God despite her lowliness. It is equally an expression of joy and a reason for her joy that, ‘‘henceforth all generations shall call me blessed’’
Gathered here to mark the
Assumption of Mary into Heaven, we re-echo and partake in that joy; the joy we
have in God our Saviour who looks on our weakness and humiliation (cf. Lk
1:47). God, in His almightiness,
considers the weak and lowly and lifts the on high. ‘‘He humbles the proud and
raises the lowly’’ (Lk 1:52). Thus, the Solemnity of Assumption announces that
Mary, the humble handmaid of the Lord, has been raised on high, assumed into
heavenly glory. St Alphonsus Maria De Liguori, Founder of the Redemptorist
Congregation, said, ‘‘Jesus did not wish to have the body of Mary corrupted
after death, since it would have redounded to His own dishonour to have her
Virginal flesh, from which He Himself had assumed flesh, reduced to dust’’(The Glories of Mary, Part II, d. 1).
The dogma of Assumption was declared on
November 1, 1950 by Pope Pius XII in the Apostolic Constitution, Munificentissimus Deus: By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the
Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce,
declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate
Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly
life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory (No.44).
This dogma asserts that Mary is wholly in God, in the totality of her
existence, i.e. body and soul. Being in God, she is alive to all peoples and
all generations as Mother of all believers. Thus, in Mary Assumed into Heaven,
the Church’s belief in the Resurrection of the body is strengthened and
enlivened. The pilgrim Church gazes on Mary with radiant joy, resounding her
blessedness in all generations, since Mary has become a model for the Church.
Our celebration of Assumption becomes our anticipation of the Resurrection (cf.
CCC 966-967).
The Holy Catholic Church celebrates the Assumption
of Mary with great solemnity. In this way, the Church stands out as the living
fulfilment of Mary’s prophecy that all generations will call her blessed. We,
as individual pilgrims in the Church, express our joy as we share in the
fulfilment of that prophecy. Thus, when Mary said to Elizabeth, ‘‘Henceforth
all generations shall call me blessed’’, she understood that the great things
the Almighty has done for her lowly handmaid would make her alive and present
to all generations. In other words, God’s great works in Mary can never be relegated
to the past. Her motherhood extends to all generations.
Gathered here before the Shrine of Our Mother of
Perpetual Help, we are besieged by many problems. But we are not blinded by
these from seeing God’s goodness and great works in our lives. So as we join
all generations to call Mary Blessed, we partake and re-echo her joy, while at
the same join our voices with hers to announce that the Almighty has done great
things for us.
Fr. Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
National Shrine of Our Mother of
Perpetual Help,
Ugwogo-Nike, Enugu. Nigeria.
Written for Enugu Diocesan
Pilgrimage/Rosary Carnival Brochure.
August 16, 2014.
