OMELIE / Omelie EN

15 ago 2026

15 August 2026 – THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

15 August 2026 – THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

1st reading: Rev 11:19a; 12:1–6a, 10ab; from Psalm 44; 2nd reading: 1 Cor 15:20–26; Gospel: Lk 1:39–56

“You have raised the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of your Son, to the glory of heaven in body and soul; grant that we may live in this world constantly turned towards eternal blessings, so that we may share in her very glory”: thus we say, as we offer, in the Collect, the prayer with which the Holy Spirit has filled the hearts of us all. First of all, we have recalled the work of our God. He has clothed in glory—that is, made a partaker of his holiness—the whole of Mary’s life, her soul and also her body. The body through which she became the mother of Jesus, a virginal body, never touched by disobedience or selfishness—that is, by sin—is therefore glorious: it reveals to us the beauty of our God and brings him closer to us. Her soul, too—which heard and meditated on the holy words spoken by the angel, and which nurtured faithful communion with Joseph, and which spoke as a mother to the infant Jesus—her soul, too, reflects the light and tenderness of our God. We therefore ask the Father that our life in this world, dominated by sin, may not be influenced by it, but may always remain directed towards that heaven where the Mother of his Son dwells.

It is a beautiful prayer, inspired by the Holy Spirit who continues to pray within us with inexpressible groanings. Even when we do not think about it, and fill our prayers with earthly concerns, this desire is present, albeit unspoken. And God answers the prayer of the Spirit. St Paul reminds us of this: we have nothing to fear, for, since we wish to love God by living according to his will, everything will work for our good. And ‘the good’ is not merely what we dream of, but what God himself dreams for us. For us, he desires the very same resurrection with which he rewarded the faithful love of Jesus—a love that went as far as the death of his body. The resurrection is the opportunity to enjoy a new, different life, entirely imbued with love—a life that no longer fears any kind of death, for it is divine, eternal and free from worldly desires.

This ‘resurrected’ life is, first and foremost, that of Mary: she, like her Son, did not undergo the corruption of the body, as the entire tradition of the Church has always testified.

What we know of Mary’s life begins with the passage recounting the announcement she received from the angel Gabriel, to which she replied, ‘Here I am’; this passage is followed by the passage we have just heard. Mary takes the angel’s words about her pregnant relative seriously, and acts upon them with immediate obedience: she hurries to her. There are two reasons that prompt her to undertake this journey: we can imagine them, even if they are not explicitly stated. First and foremost, she is moved by charity towards an elderly woman living alone, who has become pregnant and is about to give birth: she will stay with her for three months, until the joyful event. But she is certainly also moved by the joy of being able to share her own experience of faith and to speak of her two hidden, yet living, sons, both of whom were given from on high for great purposes intended for all humanity.

Elizabeth blesses her, and blesses the son whom the young woman who has just arrived is already carrying in her womb, Jesus. She responds with a prayer which the Church has made its own since ancient times. Through this prayer, Mary reveals to us how her gaze and her heart are filled with the beauty and greatness of God. She takes seriously what God has announced to her, and is aware of the love and esteem that God has for her: ‘The Almighty has done great things for me.’ She is also aware that, in this present world, both her Son and she herself will face tribulations, but they will always be watched over by the Father!

We gain an insight into these tribulations from the passage from the Book of Revelation, the first reading: a woman, ‘a great sign in the sky’, is crying out in labour pains. A huge, terrifying dragon, the colour of violence and cruelty, is ready to devour the child she is about to give birth to. But both the child and the woman are protected by God, though not without suffering. These prophetic images suggest to us that Mary’s life was neither comfortable nor easy, even though she was loved by God. She suffered, and her body bore the consequences: she toiled during her flight with Joseph and the child, and she endured other painful experiences which Simeon called a ‘sword’ that pierces the soul. The child will be her joy, just as he will be the joy of all those who welcome him into their lives; yet at the same time, he will also offer her the cup—the experience of the cross—just as he did to all his disciples. Her body is now filled with divine glory, just as her soul, with which she continued to repeat: ‘Let it be done to me according to your word’.