Struck by the Lord's grace

Aug. 15 - Assumption

READINGS: Rv 11:9, 12:1-6, 10; 1Cor 15:20-26; Lk 1:39-56. "Here am I. I am the Lord's servant as you have spoken, so be it."

REFLECTION: In the Gospel of Luke, Mary is struck by the grace of God as she utters her humble words, "Here am I. I am the Lord's servant as you have spoken, so be it." The moment Jesus encounters her life, Mary hastens to her cousin Elizabeth. Mary, by her journey, proclaims a handmaiden's work -- service. She never says anything to anyone. Yet, a little unborn child in Elizabeth's womb leaps for joy at the coming of Christ.

Elizabeth and John are struck by grace as Elizabeth exclaims, "Who am I, that the mother of my Lord should visit me?" The transformation is complete. John's "womb activity" prepares the way of the Lord. The songs of Mary and Elizabeth, the "Magnificat" and the "Canticle," are treasured New Testament songs. They add a dramatic melody of hope and promise to the lives of two pregnant women.

In the second reading from Corinthians, Paul is quite emphatic about Jesus striking a final blow to death. The time between Jesus' resurrection and the final resurrection is victory over death. Our real, authentic existence is in Jesus. The implication and ramifications are beyond description and explanation.

Like John the Baptist, we are inspired to leap for joy and shout from the mountain tops that "Jesus is Lord." We are struck and transformed in the twinkling of an eye.

In the first reading from Revelation, the cosmic struggle, the "Star Wars" of the persecuted Church unfolds in a dramatic tug of war. Who will win? Who will strike the final blow of defeat?

The woman is in the depths of labor pains, symbolic of the early Church's sufferings and persecutions. Be patient, persevere and hope in God who will not abandon us in our moments of pain.

RELEVANCE: In his book, The Shaking of the Foundations, Paul Tillich poses the question: "Do we know what it means to be struck by grace? ... Grace strikes us when year after year the longed for perfection of life does not appear ... at that moment ... it is as though a voice were saying: 'You are accepted,' accepted by that which is greater than you ... after such an experience we may not be better than before, and we may believe more than before. But everything is transformed" (pp. 161-162).

Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. Grace cracks open the potential, power and beauty that reside in us. The Assumption transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary stroke of colorful, amazing grace.

Mary may have well prayed the following prayer as she pondered the many mysteries she encountered: "God stir the soil, run the ploughshare deep, cut the furrows round and round. Overturn the hard, dry ground. Spare no strength nor toil, even though I weep. In the loose, fresh, mangled earth, sow new seed. Free of withered wine and weak -- bring fair flowers to birth" (Church Missionary Society, Singapore, "Earth Prayers From Around the World.")

RESPONSE: Mother Teresa said that "today the little unborn child has become the target of destruction. Each one, every little unborn child, is created in the image of God. These unborn are not struck by grace but by the blow of death." Take an active part in fighting for the rights of unborn children and promote adoption for pregnant women who do not want to keep their child.

(Vanden Busch, a Green Bay writer, educator and speaker, is an instructor in social sciences at NWTC and a monthly columnist for Catechist magazine.)