July 26, 2024
The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, at the heart of the month of August, is always a source of great grace for us, to which we need to pay close attention. In a way, it's the heart of our summer vacations, the little lighthouse at sea that must shine faithfully, straight as an i, amid the tumult of the great waves that crash against it.
On the occasion of this great solemnity, we are invited to listen to the Virgin Mary ask us this question in the silence of our faith: “For you, who am I?” It's the question Jesus asked his disciples in the midst of great struggles (Mt 16:13-19), and it's the question our Mother asks us now in the difficult context of today's world. And she expects an answer from us, not as a Doctor of the Law, but as a child of God, offering her all our intelligence and heart.
This is surely the first response we would like to give her: you are my Mother, the one who gives birth to me to the life of grace, to the life of faith, hope and charity. You are the one who does not bring her children into the world as a human mother does, but who brings her children into Heaven, who tenderly deposits them in the Heart of the Lamb and in the Heart of the Father.
Mary gave her life for this. And as Jesus tells us: “No one has greater love than the one who lays down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13), so Mary is a friend, the most divine human friendship possible. We can then confide everything to her, tell her everything in our prayer, not by imagining a dialogue with her, but in the silence of our faith. Let us rest in her, she is there, present, compassionate, that is, with us to carry what is too heavy, to offer the Father all our sufferings and also all our joys - the family joys of these summer vacations in particular.
Let's not hesitate to meet her during these vacations, to spend time with her every day, as a family or in solitude. The Rosary is a marvellous way of doing this, the most contemplative of all prayers, because it puts us immediately - with the efficacy of the word of God that makes what it means come true - in the presence of the Virgin Mary, who is always there. Let's not hesitate to tell her again and again how much we want to choose her as our Mother, our friend, our teacher and our Queen.
Let us entrust to him all those we love, all those who suffer. Let us ask her boldly and confidently for all the miracles of wisdom and peace that today's world so desperately needs. Above all, let us ask her personally to make us live from her secret love for Jesus, which burns in her Immaculate Heart. This is her holiness, and it is also ours, as her children.
