← The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames)
The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames)
Day 67: He Has Promised
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Sometimes God asks us to do things that are unexpected or difficult. However, these times are often an opportunity for God to bless us: although we might have planned good things for ourselves, God asks us to trust that he has the best planned for us. Fr. Mark-Mary shows how Mary is the perfect example of this trust in God, and how God’s promises of goodness are fulfilled in the Assumption. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Assumption of Mary and we will be praying one Our Father, three Hail Marys, and one Glory Be.
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Foreign Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars, the Renewal and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast, where through prayer and meditation, the Rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in the Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is day 67. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a year, visit ascensionpress.com forward/rosary in the year or text RI Y to 33777. You'll get an outline of how we're going to pray each month, and it's a great way to track your progress. The best place to listen the podcast is in the Ascension app. There's special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the full rosary with myself and other friars. No matter what app you're listening in, remember to tap, follow or subscribe for your daily notifications. The fourth glorious mystery is the Assumption of Mary Luke, chapter one, verses 46 through 56 and Mary said, my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed, for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name, and his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of low degree. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever. And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home. The focus or the emphasis that I'd like to make in our reflection here on Mary's Assumption comes from the verse which immediately precedes Mary's Magnificat, which you just heard. And this is what Elizabeth says to Mary at the visitation, right? And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. So we're going to take a look at promises fulfilled, what that looks like, and why that is the best of news. As a young man, when I was about 18 or 19 and I was starting to discern, I came across this verse in Matthew 19. It's really around Matthew 19:29 and what I was wrestling with is I really had a beautiful and good life and I was feeling the Lord inviting me to something different Something that would involve me leaving and letting go of, like, really, really good things. My family, my friends, etc. What I'm going to read is Jesus answer to Peter's question, which is, okay, Jesus, like, we who have followed you, we who have given up everything to follow you, like, what can we expect? And in verse 29, Jesus says this. Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for my name's sake will receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life. And what God spoke to me as a young man was this promise, a promise from the Father to me. I will never be outdone in generosity. What Jesus is saying here to Peter, and I believe Jesus is saying to all of us, hey, if there's a good thing, and I'm asking you to sacrifice it or to entrust me with it for a period of time, it might be a really good thing, but trust there will be a fulfillment that's a hundredfold. And what that meant to me is this logic, okay? Like, I can't actually say no to the Lord, because what he's asking me to leave behind or to do without for a period of time is too good. Because what he's saying is, whatever good you're experiencing in this thing or this relationship or the situation, if you entrust me with it, I'm actually going to reward it a hundredfold. So God had made this promise to all of us, to me, to Peter. What this looks like is that okay? If I'm going to trust the Lord with something, if I'm going to remain dependent before him and even poor and taking care of myself, there's going to be a period of time where the promise is being fulfilled, but not yet fulfilled. And when in that process, doubts can arise. He has made this promise. I've said yes. I've put myself into this place of vulnerability, of dependence, maybe even a degree of poverty. I don't see how he is going to fulfill this promise or that he is. So I have to continue in a state of unfulfillment to trust that fulfillment will come, right? And this is the situation of the apostles in Matthew 19. What I experienced in my own life and what kept me saying yes and yes and yes, is seeing the Lord fulfill these promises in little ways again and again and again, where he has asked me to entrust something or a relationship to him or a person to him. He has fulfilled this promise. The one that I share the most is the Nacho story. Hopefully a lot of you have heard it. It's the very first Ascension Presents video I did. I was with some American tourists who were talking about nachos. I had this great desire. Hey, man, I love nachos, and I really want nachos, but I have a vow of poverty, so I'm not going to go buy nachos. I went to my room, said a prayer like, Jesus, Father, I'm not going to go get nachos, but you can provide them. And that night, what was served in little grandma's house where we were staying was nachos. And it was this really, really profound experience of, hey, you know, what you've left behind, like, taking care of yourself, going just to buy whatever you want. You who have left behind nachos will receive a hundredfold. And so I received the nachos there, and it was a huge blessing, not so much because of the food, but because of this experience of the Father's care and the Father's fidelity to me. And as I have shared this story, it's been a profound blessing for other people, and it's been something that's encouraged other people and communicated some hope to other people and been an entryway for me of really inviting people into a place of trust as I kind of go into deeper things now. Let's look at this. This pattern in the life of Mary with the promise being fulfilled at the Assumption. What the Lord says to Mary is, trust me. Do not be afraid. Trust me. And Mary says, yes to the Lord. Let it be done unto me according to your word. And there was many times in the life of Mary where she experienced pain and suffering and privation and poverty in her following of the Lord while the promise was being fulfilled, but not yet fulfilled. And yet Mary trusted unto, of course, Jesus, resurrecting from the dead. And what we celebrate here in the Assumption is Mary coming to the fulfillment of her sharing in Jesus resurrection as she is assumed into heaven, body and soul. And that this, this fulfillment of the promise in Mary's life, which is a blessing of fulfillment in her own life, is also a blessing for all of us. The blessing that's offered to us is, hey, look, he is faithful. She who believed that was spoken to her would be fulfilled, did not hope in vain, did not trust in vain. The promise was fulfilled. You may experience doubts and questions as the promise is not yet fulfilled, but it will be fulfilled. And we can be encouraged in this as we see it so beautifully and perfectly fulfilled in the life of Mary and in the Assumption of Mary, a medicine is offered to us for Our core wound. The catechism says that after the fall, all subsequent sin is going to be a result of disobedience and a lack of trust in God's goodness. We see here the Father's goodness. We see God's goodness so perfectly manifested in the life of Mary. And therefore we can have confidence, sure hope that it will be true for us as well. And the last little word on this is, the Magnificat is perfect for the Assumption of Mary, because the Magnificat goes through this flow. The first half of the Magnificat is about how these blessings will be fulfilled in the life of Mary. He is regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden. Henceforth all generations call me blessed. He who is mighty has done great things for me. And then it turns and says, he will have mercy on those who fear him. He will lift up the lowly. He will remember his promise of mercy that he made to Abraham and to his posterity forever. And so this is what was prophesied and what has actually been fulfilled is that Mary will receive, like the promises fulfilled in her own life. These will be a source of grace for us who remain a pilgrim people until they are perfectly fulfilled in the life of all of us and all of the faithful as well. And so, my friends, as we meditate today upon the Assumption of Mary, this great and glorious mystery of the promise being fulfilled in the life of Mary, and truly is she blessed who believed. But we in her blessedness are blessed as well. So those areas of our life where there is still doubt, where there is question, where there is experience of privation and hurt and suffering, let us allow the Lord to speak to us, and let Mary speak these words to us as well, like, trust the Father. He is worthy. He is trustworthy. I hoped and I didn't hope in vain. Like our hope is sure, my brothers and sisters, our hope is sure. And so encouraged by Our Lady's assumption, let's really ask for the grace of hope and encouragement that the promises spoken to us will be fulfilled as well, and that we who hope in the Lord never hope in vain. Let us pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, The Lord is with the Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. All right, everybody, thanks for joining me and praying with me again today. I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow. All right. Poco poco. Friends.