An 18th Sunday after Pentecost Thought About Our Desire To Be United With God

This comes from a meditation on the Assumption, from Fr. Raoul Plus, on this 18th Sunday after Pentecost.

One of the charms of the traditional calendar's references to Pentecost for these Sundays is the reminder of the central importance to that great supernatural event that injected the energized grace (not an official theological term to be sure) into the Apostles and the other disciples that resulted in their spreading the Good News - even in the face of mortal danger. The growth of Holy Church was the result. 

This as opposed to the "Ordinary Time" that is now attached to Sundays in the newfangled Calendar.

So the recollection of Pentecost, once a universal staple of our Liturgical Year served an important purpose. Being bereft of this has consequences. And, of course, most Catholics are indeed bereft, since most of us to follow the newfangled calendar, with most of those completely unaware that there was indeed a traditional calendar that served us for centuries. (Or perhaps better, that there still is a tradition calendar that can continue to serve us.)

All of which brings us to the Assumption.

While it has not been relegated to an inferior status as seemingly has been the case with Pentecost, it has likely suffered the fate of most of our Holy Days of Obligation. Churches once bursting at the seams on holy days now sport a few hardy faithful on these special days. And while the trend was already in place of reduced attendance at Mass on holy days, the Covid Mess assured its aggressive expansion.

Thus we, in this little way, recall the Assumption in this passage.

But even more important than keeping the reality of the Assumption alive in our minds and hearts is what it teaches us about being united with God.

As any Catholic must understand, Mary was united to God from her conception. Born without Original Sin, she had no encumbrance to prevent her constant connection with God and her consistent practice of all that was holy to the exclusion of all that was not.

Indeed, the spotless state of her soul made way for the angel's message on the day of the Annunciation. Without hesitation, she said "Be it done unto me." 

We, born with Original Sin, cleansed by Baptism, but now suffering the lingering consequences of that First Sin of Adam, would do well to call upon Mary to help us in our struggle to desire God, to desire only what is holy.

Father Plus helps us now to understand our Mother's state of mind and heart and soul, giving us a "picture" we can savor. It helps to deepen our understanding of the reality of Mary's Assumption.

“How could her body continue to contain a soul which so ardently desired union with the Eternal, face to face?” writes Fr. Plus, S.J., “It is impossible to explain, except as a sort of permanent miracle. Why did God permit Mary to live so many years after the death and ascension of her Divine Son? The first reason was probably that He willed through this long preparation for the Beatific Vision to increase immeasurably the Blessed Virgin’s capacity for love. Having known the visible and continual presence of the Savior during thirty-three years, she longs with all her heart for the great reunion. The days pass; she must wait. As Saint Augustine says, ‘God thirsts that we thirst for Him.’ May the Lord be praised and may His thirst be quenched! The thirst of all the saints for heaven in comparison with Mary’s maternal and virginal heart is as a drop of water lost in the immensity of the ocean, for Mary’s yearning surpassed that of all creatures.”

With our deepened understanding of the Assumption, we can pray more ardently for the grace to "go to God" not only on the day of our death, but here and now, everyday, throughout the time granted to us in this life.

 

Happy Sunday!