Feast of the Assumption

Wednesday 15 August 2007

“Blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled”. Elizabeth recognised that as something extraordinary about Mary her cousin. Mary believed in God’s promise to her. She believed and loved God with her whole being: “I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word”. It may be easy enough to say yes to God. She lived that ‘yes’, spoken at the Annunciation, for the whole of her life – even when she stood watching on Calvary as her only Son died a cruel death. Faith trusts in God even when all seems lost. Even on Calvary, Mary knew one thing for certain – God does not go back on his promises; God’s love is stronger than anything in the world. In that scene of pain, God was at work. The Calvary erected over this grotto shows a scene of pain and desolation; it also shows Jesus, lifted up from the earth, drawing all of us to himself.

Her son was being caught up to God and his throne; salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God were coming to the world. He was raised from the dead as the first fruits of those who die. In him all would be brought to life.

Today we celebrate Mary’s Assumption into heaven. At the end of her life, the whole of that continual and wholehearted ‘yes’ to God, was caught up to God’s throne with her Son. She was the first and most faithful disciple of her Son. All who belong to Christ will be brought to life in him, each one in proper order. She was the first of those who belong to Christ, and the first to be brought to life in him.

Through all of her life, Mary believed in God’s promise to her. For that reason she is an important model for our world. She is the first disciple, who shows us how to welcome the merciful love of God, even when we suffer and are full of anxiety.

We have many reasons to be anxious about the future – we have concerns about climate change, about terrorism, about the impact of events that threaten our peace and prosperity, about our own personal worries and tragedies. We live in a time when people are in real need of a solid reason to hope. The tragedy is that, so often, we look for that hope and meaning where it cannot be found – in the single minded pursuit of affluence, in using noise, activity and distraction as ways of diverting our minds from the challenge of living a fully human life, in drugs which are seen as an escape but end up as a captivity, in trying to keep up with or do better than others. None of these can be the meaning of life. Some of the goals we pursue, a better standard of living, a better income, can be good and liberating things, but if we treat them as what gives meaning to our lives, they diminish and even destroy us.

We Christians can offer to our world the most precious of all gifts – “a gift which no one else can give: faith in Christ, the source of the hope that does not disappoint”. The real challenge to us is to understand how precious that gift of faith and hope is. We also need to understand that this gift is worth all the effort that we can give. Our belief in God’s promise needs to be expressed in our commitment to live that faith as fully as we can.

The people of Cratloe who built this grotto knew well how precious the gift is. The effort that they put into building this expression of their faith was extraordinary. When we look at this grotto, it is hard to imagine that work being undertaken today – all on a voluntary basis.

That expression of their faith stands high over Cratloe as a monument, as a reminder, as a challenge to us. In the 75 years that it has stood here it has been a sign of God’s promise. The Calvary shows us Jesus in the moment of conquering death and suffering and evil, drawing us to himself. The grotto honours Mary, who is, as today’s Mass says, ‘a sign of hope and comfort for God’s people on their pilgrim way’. May it always be a challenging sign of hope for the people of this parish and beyond.

Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 222

JOHN PAUL II, Ecclesia de Europa, 18.

+Donal Murray
Bishop of Limerick