OUR SUNDAY’S IN AUGUST 2010

It is our faith that Mary was conceived without the influence of original sin. With this freedom Mary was able to choose to live completely as God created us to live, that is, she lived a life of love. Yet, Mary was free to choose otherwise, as were Adam and Eve. Fortunately, unlike Adam and Eve, Mary chose God over all her personal wants or desires. This sense of humble love for God is given voice to Mary’s beautiful Magnificat which we hear in Luke’s Gospel: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.” Our belief is that Mary, uncorrupted in life, remained uncorrupted in death. As a consequence of her holy life of humble service, she was “assumed”, that is, taken bodily into heaven. Although several legends exist, we have no details about Mary’s death, but the belief of the early Christians is that she was taken up into heaven. Through the Grace of Baptism, we have the hope of heaven, and we believe that our bodies will be raised at the end of time.

Mary’s glorious assumption is what we celebrate in the middle of this month. But, how can we also consider the Grace of Baptism that we have been given? We can look at Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s role in the drama of salvation was such that her name has come down to us through the Gospels, but beyond that little else is known. The wife of a Priest and the mother of John the Baptist, she simply lived the way God asked.

We use the term “righteous” most often when we want to say something uncomplimentary of someone. We call people “self righteous” when they think they are better than us and like to show it by pointing out our faults. In the Gospel’s, however, “righteous” has a very positive meaning. It is an observation by others that a person truly seems to be holy, to be living the way everyone should be living. This does not mean the person is without sin; it means that despite their sin they clearly continue the struggle to live according to God’s laws and His love.

Specifically, Elizabeth does what all of us should do, and that is to recognize the presence of God in other people. Elizabeth’s recognition of a divine presence within Mary is an acclamation of faith that helps point us to the Lord. Her statement, “The infant in my womb leaped for joy,” is an ancient, traditional phrase of the recognition of divinity or of a king. It is a way of saying that even children in the womb can recognize a divine intervention or presence.

Though we celebrate Mary’s Feast Day, we still can look to Elizabeth and see our proper reaction to those who greet us: to recognize the presence of God in all people. We can point people away from ourselves and toward the Lord who lives within them.

PATRIARCH – AUGUSTINE I

The Most Rev. John P. Walzer, D.D. Archbishop