Feast of Assumption Reflection

My Spirit Exults In God My Savior


A reflection on the readings for the Assumption of Our Lady, August 15th

By Rev. Robert Johnnene OFA

Mission Sts. Sergius and Bacchus

www.missionstsergius.org



The Gospel for this Feast day continues the story of the Annunciation by the angel Gabriel to Our Blessed Mother that she had been chosen to be the Mother of God’s only son where Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth and upon hearing Mary’s greeting Elizabeth “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 honored 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.’

On this feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Mother into Heaven , I can’t help but call to mind the first part of Luke’s Gospel describing the events of the Annunciation and Our Blessed Mother’s response since the feast of the Assumption is also the anniversary of my Ordination to the priesthood.

Seven years ago at 69, an age that many ordained priests are looking forward to retirement I was ordained to the holy order of priest in Washington DC. The news that I was to become a priest, like I am sure the angels message to Mary, came as a complete surprise to me but one that I accepted with trust and faith in God and the hope that I could be worthy of such an immense honor. & years later I pray that my labor for the honor and Glory of God and my humble attempt to spread the Good News of God’s infinite mercy and Love for ALL His children has inspired those who have felt unloved, unwanted and rejected to claim their rightful place within the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church and to partake of all the sacraments that God has given us.

I, like I am sure Mary did, questioned how I was worthy of accepting God‘s call to serve Him and asked "Are you sure it is I Lord?" Each day since then I pray that I have done God’s will and served Him and that I have been an instrument of bringing others closer to God.

I seek the intercession of Our Blessed Mother to her heavenly son asking that God will send the Holy Spirit down upon me to inspire and lead me in knowing and doing God’s will.

Every person on earth receives a call from God but God allows us the freedom of to accept His will for us or go our own way.

We constantly are challenged to live our lives according to the teachings of God found in the commandments and the teachings of Jesus Christ. We need to consistently ask ourselves questions like; Do we love God above all things? Do we love our neighbor as we love ourselves and do we see Jesus Christ in all the people of the world as being our neighbors and God‘s children? Are we living according to the instructions found in the Corporal Works of Mercy and The Beatitudes?

Mary lived her life fully in accordance with the Jewish faith. She was prayerful and totally committed to Almighty God. She lived her life according to God’s commandments and the precepts of the Jewish Faith she was brought up in.

Mary accepted God’s will for her even though she knew that as an unmarried woman found with child she could be stoned to death.

The Gospel for The feast of Assumption is from Luke 1:39 - 56 and ends with the words of Our Blessed Mother in responded to her Cousin Elizabeth’s greeting. Those words have become a statement of faith that we now pray as The Magnificat which is Latin means “ to Magnify” is considered the song both of the Mother of God and of the Church.

Mary’s total acceptance of God’s will for her and her willingness to become God’s humble handmaid when she responded with these words; , "Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to Thy word". The words to the magnificat are;

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my savior;

because he has looked with favor upon his lowly handmaid. From this day forward all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name, his mercy reaches from age to age for all 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

Mary’s words clearly state that God did not come for the rich and famous or the powerful of the world, but Christ came for the poor and those who society considers lowly.

I often wonder if we could have that kind of faith and trust in God that Mary had?

Do we acknowledge how blessed we are for all the gifts He bestows upon us every day?

Do we fear God, not with the kind of fear that we usually think of like fear of flying or of spiders or some terrible catastrophic event but the kind of fear where we are in awe of the wonderful power and majesty of Almighty God and we turn to God for praise and thanksgiving and worship because He is worthy of all those things?

Believing in God is believing that His will is always right and just.

By accepting His will and going forth with all of our energies to live according to his will is what life is all about.

In order to have the kind of faith Our Blessed Mother had we have to give ourselves over completely to God’s will for us and accept it just as Mary did when the Angel appeared to her and told her she would bear a child out of wedlock, something that according to Jewish law required that she be put to death.

Accepting God’s will is not easy, especially when we are faced with serious health issues, the inability to meet our financial obligation, challenges to our faith by others and issues like homelessness, poverty, and unemployment

We all need to listen carefully for the times when God attempts to speak to us in our hearts and not pass it off as an illusion or a dream and close our hearts and minds to God speaking to us.

It was not until I stopped demanding to always do things my way and to begin to ask God for guidance I began to find true peace within my heart and mind.

Just as Mary acknowledged that “the Almighty has done great things for me” we too need to acknowledge the things that God has done for us.

God’s love for us is infinite and forever and as Mary acknowledged “His mercy endures forever” even when we try to ignore Him and go our own way and yes, even when we have fallen away through sin, God does not give up on us.

All we have to do is acknowledge Him and attempt, with the help of His Divine Mercy and the Holy Spirit, to live our lives in a manner that is not harmful to ourselves or others.

We have to remember that only God is perfect and He knows the human condition is far from perfect.

He respects and loves us as we struggle with the difficulties of our daily lives and the pressures applied to us by a society that has values other than those that Christ instructed us to have.

God choose Mary to be the mother of His only begotten son because she lived her life in accord with His laws as they had been handed down through the prophets and the Jewish Faith.

Jesus came to earth to bring us a new covenant and Mary accepted that and followed Jesus even to watching him suffer and die.

She was there when he arose and when the Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles.

She was the First and most loyal of all the disciples. She showed us how to follow Christ.

If we begin to change ourselves and totally give our lives over to the will of God, accepting His will, just as Mary did, possible we might, one day, hear the voice of an angel speaking to us and saying “God loves you for being His good and faithful servant and is welcoming you home to His loving arms.”

Let us have the faith of Mary and let us serve God by serving all His children with love, compassion, mercy, charity and acceptance and pray that God will receive us as His good and faithful servants when our days here on this earth are over..

AMEN

Sunday August 14th Reflection

20th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2011



A Reflection based on readings from: Isaiah 56, Psalm 67, Romans 11, Matthew 15


By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFD


Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy


www.missionstsergius.org


www.Franciscansdivinemercy.org






Thus says the Lord: Have a care for justice, act with integrity, for soon my salvation will come and my integrity is manifest… all who observe the sabbath, not profaning it, and cling to my covenant – these I will bring to my holy mountain. I will make them joyful in my house of prayer. …. for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples. Isaiah 56:1, 6-7


These words from the first reading for the 2oth Sunday of Ordinary time are, to me, an affirmation of God’s intent to welcome all people into His company regardless of their race, marital condition or sexual orientation. In the second reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans 11 verse 13 He further strengthens that concept when he writes; “I have been sent to the pagans as their apostle, and I am proud of being sent, but the purpose of it is to make my own people (meaning the Jewish People) envious of you, and in this way save some of them. and he further states “God never takes back his gifts or revokes his choice.”


In the Gospel reading from Matthew 15 Christ is reported to have said; “I was sent to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.’…. ‘Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.”


To me the message for this week is that with deep and abiding faith and trust in God all who desire it are not only welcome in God’s house, but also are guarantied to be saved.


I have often written that it is God, and only God, that can determine who will be granted salvation.


When human beings claim to know God’s will and make judgments against another declaring that they are condemned, they are in great danger of claiming a power that belongs only to God and therefore, in my estimation, are committing the great sin of blasphemy at the least and worse yet, placing themselves above God.


Throughout the New Testament we see Christ welcoming all who came to him, even those who, according to Jewish law, a Jew should not be seen with or talk to.


The message Christ gave us is that Almighty God is a loving, compassionate and forgiving God who desires us to practice the same qualities toward all of His children regardless of their race, sex, marital situation or even their religious denomination as long as they believe in the one God, The God of Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Jacob, David and the Father of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.


The message of today’s readings is also a message of how we should live our life to be pleasing to God.


We are told to; “Have a care for justice and to act with integrity”


That means that we are to be fair in business dealings, in payment of wages, in discerning others and to do all things with integrity and honesty.


If we live our life, every day, in this manner and we also set aside time each day to center ourselves and to acknowledge and talk to God, we will be welcomed in heaven with all the heavenly elect.


God desires all His children to claim their rightful place in the Kingdom of heaven.


All we have to do to attain that is to Know, Love and Serve God in all our actions each and every day.


On Monday we will celebrate the Feast honoring the Assumption of Our Blessed Mother into heaven. It is also the anniversary of my ordination as a priest and a day I feel was the most wonderful day of my life.


With all joy comes sorrow and it is through the sorrow and the pain we learn to enjoy the happy moments.


Our ministry is now at a crossroads; I do not know where it is headed but leave it, as all things should be left, in God’s hands. I personally cannot sustain it by myself both financially and physically without help and support.


Tomorrow I will be releasing a reflection on Our Blessed Mother and how her life should be an example to all of us especially woman. She was totally devoted to God and accepted the “Sword that pierced her soul” (Luke 2:33–35) and so it is that I will accept whatever God has in store for Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus and the Franciscans of Divine Mercy.


AMEN