(Solemnity of the Assumption: This homily was given on August 15, 2026 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-10; Psalm 45:10-16; 1 Corinthians 15:20-27; Luke 1: 39-56.)
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Assumption 2026]
Until a few years ago, there was Carmelite Monastery in Barrington, RI. My mother used to go there quite often for Mass and for days of personal prayer. Well one of the sisters in the monastery was very gifted musically, and at one point she wrote a very brief but beautiful song about the Blessed Mother. And here are the words:
Father, make us like Mary;
Father fill us with grace;
make us open and empty—
To receive your word each day;
to give birth to your Son—to give birth to your Jesus;
To give birth to your Son; to
give him to everyone.
I would say that the meaning and
the message of the feast we celebrate today—the feast of our Lady’s Assumption
into Heaven are present in those few short lines. The Catholic Church teaches that when we die, our souls are separated
from our bodies, and our souls go either to Heaven, Hell or Purgatory. Only at the Final Judgment will our bodies be
resurrected and reunited with our souls.
But for the Blessed Mother, the separation never occurred. At the end of her earthly life, she was taken—soul
and body—into the Lord's eternal
Kingdom. And so, her Assumption is, as
the Catechism tells us, "a singular participation in her Son's
Resurrection, and an anticipation of the resurrection of other
Christians." (CCC, 966) That means, quite simply, that what's already
happened to Mary will someday happen to us, if
we are in the state of grace when we die.
So in that song, when it says, “Father make us like Mary” ultimately
we’re asking the Lord to make us like Mary AS SHE NOW IS! We’re saying, “Father, bring us to your
kingdom where we will eventually live forever with Jesus, Mary and all the
saints with our souls and with our bodies. That’s our goal—as it should be the goal of
every human person.”
The rest of the song points us to the path we need to travel in order to
reach that ultimate goal. At the
Annunciation, when Mary said to the Lord, “Be it done unto me according to your
word,” she was giving God permission to come into the world through her. That’s really what was happening. Mary said
that yes to the Lord by the power of God’s grace working in her—and not by her
own power. As the song also indicates, Mary
was totally open to the Lord and empty of her own self-will. She was sinless—she received God’s word each
day and lived it in perfect obedience.
She gave birth to the Son of God and now brings to him all those who
come to her seeking him.
What the Lord asked our Blessed Mother at the Annunciation he asks us
(believe it or not) every single day.
Whether we realize it or not, our Lord says to each of us every day, “My
son—my daughter—I came into the world 2,000 years ago through Mary. Will you allow me today to come into the world
through you? Will you give me permission to come into the
world through your love, through your holiness, through your compassion,
through your charity, through your mercy and forgiveness, through your patience,
through your purity, through your witness to the truth?”
And so our prayer every day should be like the words of this song:
Father, make me like Mary;
Father fill me with grace;
make me open and empty—
To receive your word each day;
to give birth to your Son—to give birth to your Jesus;
To give birth to your Son; to
give him to everyone. Amen.