And holy is [God’s] name through all generations!

Everlasting is [God’s] mercy to the people [God has] chosen,

and holy is [God’s] name!

I don’t know if it was intentional or not,

but 208 years ago today,

St. Gaspar founded the Missionaries of the Precious Blood

On the feast of the Assumption of Mary.

It might just be a coincidence that we celebrate both events on the same day.

Whether intentional or not,

today we have much to celebrate

for god who is mighty

has done great things

for both Mary of Nazareth

and for the Missionaries of the Precious Blood.

 

And holy is [God’s] name through all generations!

Everlasting is [God’s] mercy to the people [God has] chosen,

and holy is [God’s] name!

 

Today, we also rejoice

Because whatever God has done for Mary

God has also done for us.

As Mary was conceived without original sin,

so we have been washed in the waters of baptism

and original sin has been swept away in our lives.

As Mary brought Jesus into the world,

all who have been anointed with chrism

at baptism and confirmation,

have been anointed to bring Christ into the world

by what they say and do.

And finally,

as Mary was assumed into heaven,

one day we believe, we too shall join her

before the throne of God.

 

And holy is [God’s] name through all generations!

Everlasting is [God’s] mercy to the people [God has] chosen,

and holy is [God’s] name!

 

Many years ago, when I was a seminarian,

I did some volunteer work at an inner-city parish in Chicago.

The pastor emeritus had been retired there for many years.

When he was pastor in the 1960s and 70s,

the neighborhood around the parish changed.

It had once been a large Irish Catholic community,

but as African-American families began to move in,

most of the long-time parishioners began to move out.

 

The pastor strove to welcome the new members of the community

and at the same time

to encourage the parishioners to stay in the neighborhood

and welcome their new neighbors, too.

While many of the white parishioners moved away, he stayed.

And when he retired, he asked the new pastor if he could continue to stay.

 

I got to know him as a kind, old man—a man of God—

who cared deeply for the people of God

no matter their race, color, or creed.

When I was a deacon, I would sometimes assist him at Mass.

His vision was going and he was sometimes forgetful,

losing track of where he was in the celebration.

After a while, he could no longer preside and rarely left his room,

and on occasion I would bring him his meals and we would talk.

 

During one conversation, he told me that he wanted the Magnificat,

the prayer of Mary which we heard today,

to be read at his funeral.

He was afraid that whoever preached at his funeral

would make him out to be a good and holy man,

and he wanted none of that.

What he wanted people to remember was what Mary wanted people to remember:

“The Mighty one has done great things for me, and holy is his name” (Luke 1:49).

 

Mary takes no credit for anything and instead points to what God has done for her.

The old, dying priest wanted to be remembered for what God had done,

not for what he had done.

 

And holy is [God’s] name through all generations!

Everlasting is [God’s] mercy to the people [God has] chosen,

and holy is [God’s] name!

 

Every evening, millions of people in the church pray the Magnificat.

Every time I pray it,

I am reminded to remember what Mary and that old, dying priest remembered:

“The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”

 

So today, as we celebrate the Assumption of Mary

In this Chapel of the Assumption,

and as we rejoice on the 208^th anniversary of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood,

we give credit where credit is due.

We give credit to God for all that god has done,

in the life of Mary,

in the life of our community,

and in our own lives, as well.

 

And holy is [God’s] name through all generations!

Everlasting is [God’s] mercy to the people [God has] chosen,

and holy is [God’s] name!