“MARY, MOTHER OF HOPE”

Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary
Luke 1:39-56

Recent News: Mother Loses 4th — and Last — Son to Davao Death Squad (DDS). “Clarita Alia, a vegetable vendor in Bankerohan, Davao City, called members of the Davao media this morning to report that her son, Fernando, 15, was stabbed dead. Before this, she already lost three other sons to the so-called Davao Death Squad. Fernando was her last remaining son.”

It was very sad news… so sad! But killings still continue. Some don’t want to hear this kind of news anymore. They have enough of it. There has been no single case of summary execution solved. There’s no more hope.

People lost hope. But it’s dangerous! Losing hope is dangerous. In losing our hope, we become depressed. There are some people committed suicides because of depression. There are some people became problematic for they don’t find hope for the future. Seems the world stops turning. Hopeless!

Mary as a mother of Jesus was hopeful. She nursed and cared for her baby Jesus. She loved Jesus so tenderly, so deeply. Jesus was her precious child. Imagine how the mother ran to her child and picked him up from falling. She was worried and concerned for her missing son. She found her son with full of hope. She heard the word and kept it with full of hope.

Mary’s son was persecuted. Jesus was suffered and died on the cross. It was so terrible! It was so terrible for a mother to see her son suffered and died. She lost her son. But in her deep sorrow, she was still strong. She was still full of hope.

Her hope was fulfilled. Jesus was resurrected. His ascension to heaven is the fulfillment of her hope. As a mother of hope she was assumed to heaven. Now, she’s with her son through God’s power and grace. She’s now with her Son because she was not discouraged.

The Assumption of Mary reminds us and encourages us not to lose hope. We always love this Feast, because we believe that Mary assumed to Heaven, body and soul. Mary is always a mother to us. She wants us to be filled with hope. She loves us that she wants us to follow her, to be like her, to be hopeful.

This feast is a source of great hope for us. It gives us hope and courage to go on, to continue to live like Mary – to be obedient to God, to be gentle to others, to be humble, and, above all, to be concern to what’s happening in our society today.

. The Assumption is a sign to us that there is hope. And someday, like Mary, we too may join with Mary to sing her song: “My soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior…” in Heaven.