On Target | Fr. Dan Ferrandiz

In school we discover a lot of things. We discover that we are different from animals because of our ability to communicate by means of words. Dog’s barks or cat’s meows are sounds that call them to come together. They gather because they hear sounds but they do not understand each other. They don’t sit around talking about their experiences, their plans, their aspirations and desires etc…but we, people do.

In school we also learn to speak different languages. Exposed to different cultural backgrounds of people we meet we learn to speak their language so we can understand them and speak to them. But that is in school. In our homes we too learn a different language.  At home we learn to speak the language of our parents and this language is sometimes called the language of the heart.

The episode of Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth gives us a beautiful example of languages of love lived in their homes. John and Jesus grew up in a home that teaches the language of words of affirmation and the language of Service and Quality Time.

After the annunciation Mary prepared to leave “in haste” to visit and help her cousin Elizabeth who was six months pregnant. Mary’s visit to her cousin shows us an example of a person who knows her priorities and who does not wait until someone asks but observes what needs to be done and decides to help. Pope Benedict calls this the “Sacred haste” in life which emphasizes God as the priority always. He said that Mary’s action of getting up quickly stresses the importance of prioritizing God, listening to him and be led by His spirit in her journey through life. And having God in her journey she energized others whom she spent time with.

“When Mary came, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaped for joy.” St. John was energized because of Mary’s act of service. Why did God Bless Mary’s service? Because her “service” is borne out of the Spirit of God which led her to see the events of her existence in her heart in a deeper way as part of the plan of God. In her continued reflection she understood the pains that she will go through from Bethlehem toCalvary. And that she learned to entrust everything to God. And in all of this “haste” God always was the priority. Nothing else created haste in her life.

That inner vision gave her integrity –wholeness that earned her, in her death, the special privilege of the Assumption of Body and soul to heaven.
The Holy Father said that the feast of the “ ‘Assumption’ reminds us that Mary’s life, like that of everyChristian is a journey to follow Jesus, a path that has a clearly defined goal, a future already mapped out: the final victory over sin and death and full communion with God.”

What about Elizabeth? She lived the language of affirmations. Seeing the Blessed Mother she blurted out: “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”  Elizabeth’s words further encouraged theBlessed Virgin Mary to accomplish the great task entrusted to her by God. She was afraid but the reassuring words of her cousin and the angel of God at the annunciation gave her the courage to face the task ahead.

Reflecting on the lives of these two great women we are reminded to ponder these questions: How many of our parents speak the language of service and affirmations at home? How many of them speakwords of encouragement to their children to fulfill their desires. How many of them tell their children not to be afraid when they are fearful?  How many children grow up in an environment that emphasizes service and words of encouragement?

The Assumption of Mary gives us a glimpse that if we live our lives like Mary did, we will not lose our serenity and peace even amidst “the hastiness” in life as long as we know who to prioritize. Let us turn to Mary and with her motherly intercession ask her to make us steadfast and courageous to continue on our path of Christian commitment wherever God calls us to serve.