Rev 11:19a-12:1-6a, 10ab/ 1 Cor 15:20-26/ Luke 1:39-56
For someone whom we love deeply and we want to show our respect and honour, is there anything that we can do for that person?
Or is there anything that we can ever do to make that person remembered for as long as possible?
There are a few examples in history of people who try to keep the memory of a person.
One such example is the magnificent Taj Mahal. It was built in 1648 by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died at child-birth.
It certainly was with great love and a great desire to remember and honour a person that such things are done.
Today we celebrate the occasion when God honoured His most beloved creature, Mary.
Mary was conceived without sin so that she in turn will conceive Jesus who is the sinless Son of God.
God assumed her into heaven, body and soul, so that the corruption of death will not touch her sinless body.
But the Assumption is not just about raising Mary’s sinless body into heaven.
Mary’s whole person was sinless; her whole being was sinless.
Yes, she was conceived without sin, yet she had the freedom of choice to remain sinless or not.
At the Annunciation, she clearly indicated that she was just a lowly handmaid of the Lord and that the will of the Lord was to be done in her.
In fact, we cannot talk about Jesus without saying something about Mary.
Yet whenever we talk about Mary, we are also saying something, and maybe everything about Jesus.
In the gospel, we heard Mary praising God for His mercy on those who fear Him, and that He exalts the lowly, the hungry He fills with good things, He comes to the help of His servants, mindful of His mercy.
These are the core teachings of Jesus and this is also what Mary lived out in her life.
Mary did the will of God in her life, and she glorified the Lord, and exalted the Lord God her Saviour.
And at the end of her earthly life, God glorified and exalted her with the Assumption.
Yet even from her place in heaven, Mary will not rest from the work of salvation until we, her children, are with her to glorify and praise the Lord.
In the gospel, we heard Elizabeth proclaiming Mary as the Mother of God.
On the cross, Jesus gave us Mary to be our mother.
And from the Church approved apparitions at Lourdes and Fatima, we know that Mary is still doing the will of God.
This time round, it is not to bring Jesus into the world but to bring us to heaven through the call to prayer, penance and repentance.
May we like Mary do the will of God in our lives.
May we be humble and trust in God’s ways of providence.
May we know that we need God’s help to face the troubles of this life.
May we also pray to Mary, so that in the world to come, we too will join her to praise and glorify the Lord God our Saviour.