Deacon Tom Anthony

Wednesday and Thursday we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary the Mother of God, is welcomed into heaven body and soul to be reunited with her son, Jesus. We are encouraged this day to meditate on the relationship between Mary and Jesus which also extends to us. Through Jesus Christ, we have become God's adopted sons and are offered a royal birthright that unites us with our Father. Because of this, Mary is viewed as our Eternal Mother and intercessor in a most beautiful way. She loves us as our own and is always here in our time of need. She is also a messenger for her son and is known to speak on his behalf; tempering the message with a paternal emotion that exudes tenderness and a genuine care for our salvation.

We are encouraged to look to Mary as a model of our own lives and how we interact with other people. We must love with the same earnest and purity that Mary has for her son and us. Christ himself delivered us the Greatest Commandment:

You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart,
and with your whole soul,
and with all your mind.

This is the greatest and the first commandment.
And the second is like it:
you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Through Christ and his sacrifice we learn how to love and Mary defines it further with the paternal love that she brings. We are constantly invited to participate in this relationship by accepting God in our lives and living it with God and his love. We cannot fully enjoy this experience without opening our hearts and minds to God and surrendering ourselves to him with complete innocence and abandon. We must further admit that to accept God is to relinquish control of our lives; a control that usually leads to our own destruction. This act may leave us exposed and vulnerable but it also forms a relationship of trust. This trust is developed through love as defined by Christ and Mary.

Our faith insures our salvation. When we are weak or when we feel lost, we must look to Mary our Mother for that help and tenderness that only a mother can offer. She when then take our hand and lead us to her son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Deacon Tom