***
Gospel: Luke 1:39-56
Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”
And Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.”
Mary remained with her about three months
and then returned to her home.
The Gospel of the Lord.
***
***
While studying for the priesthood, I used to visit a children’s hospital located right next to our seminary. I’ll never forget meeting a 5-year-old girl there named Martina.
Martina suffered from a very rare condition, causing her to spend most of her life in the hospital.
She had no joints. The bones in her arms and her legs didn’t connect, so she could neither stand nor walk. All she could do was lay in her little hospital bed.
It sounds impossible, but making her life even harder, she was blind, deaf, and mute.
Martina had never seen her mother nor heard her voice. She only felt her mother’s touch, a gift she experienced every single day.
***
Martina’s mother never left her side, because that’s who mothers are – they bring us into this world, they nurture us, and shower us with love and affection.
Witnessing their bond reminded me of a definition I once heard of love: “Love is a single soul dwelling in two bodies.”
It was as if Martina and her mother were one.
***
That’s the type of bond we celebrate today – the inseparable bond between a mother and her child – specifically, the bond between Mary and Jesus.
***
Mary was the only person who welcomed Jesus into this world and was also with him when he left it; from the day he opened his eyes in Bethlehem to the moment he closed them on Calvary, Mary was there.
She not only became the mother of Jesus, but also his disciple.
Some would say, his first disciple.
Over the course of thirty-three years, Mary’s heart became so united to Christ, they were like, “a single soul dwelling in two bodies.” His will became her will; whatever was pleasing to Jesus was pleasing to Mary.
As she reminds Christians in every age, “Do whatever he tells you.”
***
On this Feast of the Assumption, it makes sense that wherever Jesus goes, Mary would follow – not only in this life, but also in the next.
After he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, we believe that Jesus called his mother home – body and soul. It’s what we celebrate today – our belief that human beings have a place in heaven, starting with Mary.
As Jesus says in John’s Gospel, “Do not let your hearts be troubled, you have faith in God. Have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.”
A place for Mary. A place for Martina. A place for you. A place for me.
***
This is essentially the message I shared with Martina’s mother the day her daughter died. That bond of love between the two of them was so strong it was as if they were, “a single soul dwelling in two bodies.”
Wherever Martina went, her mother would eventually follow.
But in heaven, Martina’s body has been freed from the cross that bound her here on earth. She’s been given a glorified body like Mary, where she’ll be able to walk and run; in heaven, she’ll see her mother face to face, thanking her for never leaving her side.
It’s just who mothers are. Wherever the child is, surely the mother will follow body and soul.
***
***
Image credits: (1) The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix (2) Shutterstock (3) Aleteia
