Reflection for the Feast of the Assumption

This feast of the Assumption of Mary is a celebration of the promised fulfillment of our longing: a life in God that never ends, with all who have gone before us – all disciples in faith, of which Mary is the first. 

Tonight I’d like to look at Mary’s lived response to God in tandem with two themes of the working report of the synod that S. Eleanor has been sending to us: Listening and mystery of communion.

Listening

First, Mary’s humble, open and listening stance at the annunciation- because this is where it began.  

Recall, Mary was approached by God through an angel. God initiated. Mary said yes.

This yes was most probably not without trepidation, wondering how she would tell Joseph, or what this all would mean. But, listening with her heart, Mary heard the invitation- the request- and discerned it was of God.  She listened.

Listening is central to the synodal process. Remember all the listening sessions we were invited to participate in? From the working paper for the October 2024 synod (6):  Faith, which is born from listening to the proclamation of the Good News, lives from listening: listening to the Word of God, listening to the Holy Spirit, listening to one another, listening to the living tradition of the Church…” (Penelope Duckworth) , and, we can add, listening to the living tradition of Benedictine monastic life. No doubt Mary’s faith grew from her listening, as does ours.

We listen as individuals and we listen as community. One supports the other. Again, from the report, paragraph 59:

“Mary, with her prayerful presence at the heart of the apostolic community in the cenacle (cf. Acts 1:14), is for all a living model and generative guide for an authentic synodal spirituality,”

which, the report says, looks like:  persevering and responsible listening to the Word, meditative discernment of events, generous openness to the action of the Holy Spirit, sharing thanksgiving for the Lord’s work, and concrete, timely service to others. Sounds very Benedictine.

Mystery of communion

The second theme from the Synod report is mystery of communion.

First, a story: Two summers after graduating from Benedictine College, I sought to live as a volunteer at Shalom House, where I was warmly welcomed by S. Barbara McCracken and taken in as a “staff member” for the Catholic Worker ministry to homeless men, many of whom, at that time, were Vietnam vets. It is there that I experienced the Mount Sisters’ genuine love for those who were served and learned how “poor in spirit” is lived as humble service to those in need. 23 years old at the time, I experienced God’s mercy in the entire experience of service, communal life, prayer, and friendship—for I was not accustomed to living in a shelter in the inner city.   The mercy shared, love for the poor, and holy humility attracted me to this community that sponsored such a ministry….not only through Barbara, but through many sisters who I first met there, when they came to help. 

In Mary’s prophetic hymn of praise we just heard proclaimed and sing every night, Mary acclaims that- God’s mercy, God’s love for the poor, God’s love for the humble- all of which were “fully realized and clarified in the life and teachings of Jesus”- who probably learned them from his mother, are a fulfillment of the promise God made to our ancestors and to generations yet to come. Mercy, love for the poor, love for the humble are the “stuff” of our communal life and of our communion with all our brothers and sisters.

Again, from the working paper for the October synod (20) :

“Synodal practice… calls us to mutual care, interdependence and co-responsibility for the common good…”

As we live the mystery of our monastic life together, and plan for the future, we can look to Mary as one whose discipleship and prayer can help us grow in communion with one another and all our brothers and sisters:
through our listening, 
our trust in God’s mercy, 
our mutual care,
our interdependence with one another, guests, the Church and the world 
our charism of welcome and hospitality, 
and our attention to the common good in our choices for life together and our ministries of education, Keeler Women’s Center, Sophia Center, and community life.  

Every evening at Vespers we acclaim God’s goodness to us and God’s everlasting promise of mercy. Through a gradual reading of the Synodal report, we are preparing ourselves for a deeper understanding of how we might share our thanksgiving to God in our participation of the Church’s synodal journey. On this feast we rejoice with Mary, identified by the Church as

“a sign of sure hope and comfort for the pilgrim people of God ” (LG 68).

(Para. 3)  We celebrate our hope for the fullness of life, in communion with one another, here and into eternity. 

On closing, 
To me, the hymn God of Mercy, God of Grace shines with a new dimension in light of this feast of the Assumption of Mary, who waits to welcome us into the company of all the faithful.

I offer verse 3 as a concluding prayer:
May the peoples praise you, Lord,
Give you thanks with one accord.
May they bless your holy name
And your goodness e’er proclaim,
All below and all above-
One in joy and one in love.

Text: Henry F. Lyte
Benedictine Book of Song II, #13