Feast of the Assumption 15 Aug 2021 Obedience
We are born with free will, with the ability to decide for good or evil.
That gift, extended to every person in the world has produced a mixed response. Sometimes we obey God and sometimes not. And this is why the world is such a mixture of good and bad. There is still a lot of good about, as in kindness, good intentions etc; but also a huge amount of suffering, caused directly or indirectly by sin.
At any moment we could make a fresh resolution to use our free will always for good and never for evil.
All we have to do is very simple - just obey Almighty God! We surrender our wills to His; always wanting His will to be obeyed and applied to every situation. Thy will be done.
His will may be expressed in commands; or it may be interpreted in the midst of other circumstances eg a call to a person to take a particular course of action.
As we learn to love and trust God we come to a point where we would do anything He asks.
There is one person who obeyed God perfectly at every moment of her life, and that of course is Our Lady. We acknowledge her today, as we note the reward she received, being taken up body and soul into Heaven.
We might say she was so holy as to be beyond us, but as we can draw light from the sun, even though it is much bigger than we are, so we can draw from the immense holiness of Our Lady.
Our obedience must therefore be constant, a way of life, making a foundation for the whole of life, such that all our lives are either directly obeying God, or at least including Him in our decisions.
Is this unreasonable to expect? Given that we are created by God, and kept in being by Him, it is not so remarkable that we should obey Him at all times.
All His creation obeys Him (all the parts that do not have free will, that is).
There is no viable alternative. People try everything else but God's will, and look what it does to them. One sin leads to another and the darkness and chaos increase.
We must keep focus and stay with God and His direction. Our reward will be peace of mind in this life and eternal glorious life in the next.
We could say we are not in it for the reward but to glorify God, and that would be Our Lady s view; but there is a reward all the same.
Mary’s Assumption shows us how completely right her approach was.
How can we be more consistent? We need to pray every day, develop good habits, discipline in the little things, all weathers, all moods.
Like learning any new subject we make mistakes and we learn as we go.
Most of the time God's will is not something spectacular but just the daily grind.
Even Mary would have done normal things most of the time, but with exceptional love as motivation.
Even when under severe suffering she would not lose faith in God. It only served to strengthen her.
We face a lifetime of choice for or against God - lots of little decisions, and a few big ones.
We reach a point where we make major progress as various elements come together.
He will ask more from those who show a willingness, and will supply the grace we need to rise to higher levels.
Mary has left us in one way, but she is still vitally concerned as a Mother for all of us. Woman, this is your son (Jn 19,26-27).
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