Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mass during the Day
August 15, 2021
Readings for the Vigil
Readings for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mass during the Day
Lectionary: 622
Reading I
God’s temple in heaven was opened,
and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.
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.
She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.
Then another sign appeared in the sky;
it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns,
and on its heads were seven diadems.
Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky
and hurled them down to the earth.
Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth,
to devour her child when she gave birth.
She gave birth to a son, a male child,
destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.
Her child was caught up to God and his throne.
The woman herself fled into the desert
where she had a place prepared by God.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed One.”
Responsorial Psalm
- (10bc) The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
The queen takes her place at your right hand in gold of Ophir.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear,
forget your people and your father’s house.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
So shall the king desire your beauty;
for he is your lord.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
They are borne in with gladness and joy;
they enter the palace of the king.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
Reading II
Brothers and sisters:
Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since death came through man,
the resurrection of the dead came also through man.
For just as in Adam all die,
so too in Christ shall all be brought to life,
but each one in proper order:
Christ the firstfruits;
then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ;
then comes the end,
when he hands over the Kingdom to his God and Father,
when he has destroyed every sovereignty
and every authority and power.
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death,
for “he subjected everything under his feet.”
Alleluia
- Alleluia, alleluia.
Mary is taken up to heaven;
a chorus of angels exults.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”
And Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.”
Mary remained with her about three months
and then returned to her home.
Reflection: GLORY OF GOD MANIFESTED IN MARY OUR MOTHER
Mother Teresa had found a boy on the streets of Kolkata and took him to her home. The next day the boy ran away. Once again, she brought him back. And he ran away again. He did this the third and fourth time. She told her sisters to follow the boy and see where he goes. The next time he ran away, the sisters looked for him and found him under a tree, helping his mother cook some food from things she picked from the road or garbage bins. The sisters asked the boy to come back to the home. The boy replied, "Home is where the mother is”. Our Lady has gone back home - to where her son is. She is taken up to be with him and that is the feast of the Assumption. Jesus entered into his glory and we call it the ascension. He was raised up by his own power. Whereas Mary was taken into heaven, not by her own power, but by the power of God. This is why we call Mary's leaving the world, Assumption rather than ascension into heaven. On Mount Zion near Jerusalem, stands an imposing shrine called the Church of Dormition, which is staffed by the Benedictine monks. This shrine was built to commemorate the place where, according to tradition, Mary fell asleep at the end of her earthly life. According to the same tradition, Our Lady was carried from here to a crypt in the valley of Kidron and laid to rest. From here she was taken body and soul into heaven. Though Mary's assumption is not mentioned in Scripture, Christians since the time of the apostles have believed this truth. The church presents this teaching as follows: “The Most Blessed Virgin Mary, when the course of her earthly life was completed, was taken body and soul into the glory of heaven, where she shares in the glory of her son's resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of his body.” Each of us has his or her moment of glory. But this glory comes after sacrifice, hard work and commitment to duty. For a job or promotion, you have to be honest, dedicated, work hard, make sacrifices, and qualify yourself. Mary too had her moment of glory - assumption. But this was after a life of sacrifice and commitment. She did not know what was in store for her after her first 'yes' to God's call. Having given her consent to the angel, she threw herself into the hands of Yahweh and began the process of our freedom. The book of Revelation puts across to us the struggle between good and evil, picturing evil as a dragon ready to devour the deliverer of the world. St. Paul tells us that the process of freedom was a painful one. The Messiah had to go through death to conquer the power of sin and restore us to freedom of the children of God, to take away the power of darkness and restore us to eternal light. Mary the free and fortunate one, responded totally to Yahweh accepting God's will and plan in her life. This brought about an inner freedom which sin could not destroy. Being conceived without sin, totally conformed to the will of God, not taking back her commitment to Yahweh, she earned her eternal freedom. She had participated fully in the life of her son on earth. It was but logical that she should share fully in his life in heaven. She was marvellously rewarded for her life of sinlessness and total fidelity to her vocation. She was the perfect disciple of her son. We need to accept God's will in our life and say no to sin as she did. This will pave the way for our own personal assumption at his second coming. Today is also our 74th Independence day. The annual celebration of that freedom is a time we look back to introspect and look forward with hope. The freedom fighters had some aspirations and dreams for a free and vibrant India. Commenting on the prevalent situation in the country, Dr. Usha Mehta, a well-known Gandhian, once asked: "Is this the freedom we fought for? Our struggle for freedom carries on as long as there is injustice and inequality anywhere in the country". Let us pray in the words of Tagore, that the Lord may lead us into that heaven of freedom where the mind is without fear and the head held high.