Making a Mother Smile

 

Appreciating Jesus’ gift of the Assumption of Mary

08/15/2025

Luke 1:39-56 Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his Name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, and has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever.” Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

All good children love to give their mothers gifts to make them smile. Why? Well, because there is nothing in the world as beautiful as your mother’s smile, especially if you are the one who caused that smile to spread across her face. So, small children pick wild flowers and devoutly delivering them to their mothers like the Magi delivered the gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Others draw them pictures like Picasso (although much better than Picasso) depicting their mother’s beauty as well as their little hands and imaginations can. And the more spontaneous and unexpected the gift the better. No need to wait for Mother’s Day or mom’s birthday or Christmas. The impetuosity and impatience of a sudden gift – and children hate to wait! – make the gift priceless to a mother, and makes her smile.

But sometimes our moms tell us what kind of gift they would like to receive. One especially important gift my mom asked for was that I make sure my brother, my sister and I stay close to each other and not argue and fight. And you know, even though there’s only three of us, we fought like the 300 from Sparta. Isn’t that what all moms really want: to see their children love each other? So, I pray for that unity and harmony and try to love my brother and sister.

Today we celebrate the Assumption of Mary into heaven. And in a sense, the Assumption is really Jesus’ great gift as a loving Son to his beautiful Mother. How so? Well, the Assumption means that Mary did not die. Rather, at the end of her earthly life, she fell asleep in Jesus’ arms, and he raised her, both her body and her soul, into heavenly glory.

And in heaven Mary has a huge, beaming smile on her face – as bright as the sun and twinkling like the stars, as it says in Revelation 12. And I bet Jesus felt very pleased that he caused that joy and glory for his Mother as his gift to her. Every child loves to give gifts to their mother, and Jesus is no exception. Indeed, Jesus loves to give Mary gifts more than you and I do for our moms.

Today on the Assumption we should follow Jesus’ example and give our Mother Mary a gift too. Now, we cannot raise Mary’s body and soul into heaven. Why not? Well, because Jesus has already bestowed that gift on her. But I am convinced that Mother Mary would love the same gift that my mother wanted from me, namely, that her children love each other.

Mary is our spiritual mother, and as a consequence, every person on earth is our spiritual brother or sister: we all have the same spiritual mother. Therefore, the best gift we can give to Mother Mary is to love every person on earth because they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. That’s the best gift you can give any mother. And if you don’t believe me, just ask your mom, and watch her smile.

Praised be Jesus Christ!