Friday, August 15, 2008St. Clement’s Catholic Church
Saratoga Springs, NY
Revelations 11: 19a, 12: 1 – 6a, 10ab
Psalm 45: 10, 11, 12, 16
1 Corinthians 15: 20 – 27
Luke 1: 39 -- 56
When I was first ordained I remember pulling out a Canon Law book (the Law of the Church) one night when I was home on vacation. I was only ordained a month and as I was sitting in the living room with my mother, I found her a section that read that if anyone hit a priest they were excommunicated from the church. My mother just looked at me and said that was a fine law but it didn’t apply to her, she would always be my mother and if I ever needed a good whack in the head she still had every right to do so – whether I was a priest or not!
Today we come to celebrate a beautiful feast because it is a feast where we honor a mother, indeed we honor our mother. Mothers hold a special place in our hearts. For ninth months they carried us in their womb, nurturing us and giving us life. They are the ones that gave birth to us, allowing us to share in this wonderful gift of life. They have cared for us, taken care of us, and while not in every situation we find that in most cases the mother of the household is the one who has been the primary care giver. Today we celebrate the fact that at the end of her life, her Son – Jesus Christ – gave eternal life to the one who bore him.
As Catholics we are often criticized by our other fellow Christian brothers and sisters that we worship Mary as God. Today’s feast helps to clarify this mistake. We praise Mary and we pray to her not as God but as one who was the first and best disciple of all. We remember Mary in this celebration of the Assumption not simply because she was the Mother of God but more importantly because she heard the Word of God and responded to it with her whole heart, soul and being. In the Vigil Gospel for this Solemnity, there is a woman in the crowd listening to Jesus who sings the praises of the women who gave him life. “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” (Luke 11:27) To which Jesus responds: “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” (Luke 11:28). At first glance it seems as if the Son is dismissing his mother but on the contrary, the Son is praising his mother. Mary is blessed not simply because she bore Christ, but she is blessed because she heard God speak to her and acted on it. Today we celebrate her entrance into heaven and remember why it occurred: because of her yes to God’s call when the angel visited her and her yeas at every moment of her life.
This is why we honor Mary – because she is a role model to all of us. We are often looking for role models in our lives. At this time of year when we watch the Olympics many of us have marveled at Michael Phelps – his dedication to his sport, his fanatical regime of training, his steel minded inner strength that has led him to so many victories and so many world records. Many look at Michael Phelps and say what a wonderful role model. Not to diminish what he has done but why can we not look at our Mother Mary and say there is a perfect role model. There is one that I want to imitate and be like. I look at this lovely lady and say: I want to follow Christ as she did.
Her response to God was not an easy one. Here is a young girl between the ages of 14 and 16 with her whole life mapped out before her. She is arranged to be married to Joseph the carpenter. I imagine Mary had most of her life planned out. She would be a good and faithful wife to Joseph; she would bear him children and raise a good family. They would lead a simple yet good life in Nazareth. But God had other plans. He calls to her, he beckons and he asks her to be the Mother of his Son. Her yes not only changed the course of the history of the world we live in but it radically changed her life.
Her simple life with Joseph was now in immediate turmoil. After she finally convinces Joseph (with God’s help) that she was to be the Mother of the Messiah she is forced to travel by donkey to a town far way while in the eighth month of her pregnancy. They finally arrive at town and there is no room for them. She is forced to go to a stable and in the middle of a barn full of animals she gives birth to her son. None of this was what she had mapped out for herself but her yes to God changed everything. Even then she is forced to flee with her husband and new born child into a foreign land because some wanted her new born son dead. Not exactly what she had in mind for herself but because of her yes the path of her life took many a twist and turn. That is what happens when we say yes to God – he leads us where we do not know and where we might never expect.
That is the reason for our celebration tonight. Mary is praised because she did what a disciple is called to do: hear the voice of God and say yes. Where that call will lead is never known, except for God. Tonight I would venture to guess that God is somehow calling you – what he is saying only you know. Our response is up to us, but tonight we have before us a model of what it means to say yes to God. Our model is Mary and today we celebrate her entrance into heaven because of her yes. Take a risk tonight and imitate a great role model. Take a risk and listen to God and say yes.
I’ve been a priest for 21 years now and the day of my ordination as I knelt before the bishop and said yes to God I had no idea where he would lead me. If you told me 21 years ago that I would be working in a parish in Saratoga Springs I would have laughed in your face and said: “But I don’t even know where Saratoga Springs is!” The yes we offer to God puts us on a path of love that leads wherever he takes us. But he walks with us as we walked with Mary. I have had some twists and turns since I said yes to God but I can honestly say that I have been happy with every twist and turn. It has truly been a wonderful journey.
Tonight we celebrate a woman of great faith and we celebrate her yes to the Lord. Under the title of Our Mother of Perpetual Help we turn to her today and ask her to pray for us to her Son so that we can be faithful to God’s voice as she was. Mary’s greatness lies not just in the fact that she was the Mother of God but because she was the first and best disciple of all. With her intercession may we follow in the path she has walked. May she be a model to us all.
For her faithfulness tonight, we thank God. For her yes tonight, we praise God. Because of her example may we have the courage to say yes to God in whatever he is asking us to do. AMEN!
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