Today the Roman Catholic Church celebrates the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This celebration is an expression of joy because Mary was taken, body and soul, into heaven. It is also an occasion to sit at the feet of the queen of Saints, and learn from her, if we can.
When she heard that her cousin Elizabeth was pregnant, Mary went to visit her, and Luke’s gospel has recorded for us some of her words from that visit. For example, Mary said that God “has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly” (Lk 1:52). This is especially apropos for these two lowly women, who would be lifted up especially in the lives and deeds of their sons.
Mary’s statement might also be seen as a parallel to Job’s words: “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). Or the prayer of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:7 “The Lord humbles and also exalts.” Or the psalm of King David: “God brings some low and raises others high” (Ps 75:8).
It is a grace to realize and accept that God might humble you, as he humbled his only Son, and that God might exalt you, as he exalted his only Son. St. Ignatius Loyola received this grace, and he prepared exercises to help others receive it, too. In fact, he considered this insight to be fundamental: “as far as we are concerned, we should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, a long life to a short life” (SpEx 23). He considered this to be the first principle and, in fact, the very foundation of all the other spiritual exercises.
Ignatius Loyola. Hannah. David. Our Lady. They all had this grace. Do you want it, too?