We Filipinos, when it comes to blessings, are very faithful. When we get a new house, we have it blessed; a new car, we have it blessed; a new office, we have it blessed. Typically, when one is asked why do the blessing, the response is for “Good Luck” and that “Money Flows In.”

If it is truly about Good luck and money, the question is, what if money does not flow in? What happened to the blessing? Further, what if the money does flow in and lots of it, but eventually the family fights and is broken? Again, what happened to the blessing? 

When we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption, we hear of Mary being described as blessed. Why was she blessed?

1. She was faithful to her Vocation. When Adam and Eve sinned, the very first promise of God was the Messiah. This Messiah will be born through a virgin. While indeed Mary was already earmarked to be the Mother of Jesus, Angel Gabriel had to still hear her say yes. She did not know what her yes would entail but she trusted God.
2. She Carried Her Cross. Jesus would tell His would-be disciples to pick up your cross and follow me. Certainly, Mary did. One of the most difficult of all vocations is to be a mother. More so, the Mother of Jesus. Mothers can understand the pain when the son was ridiculed; when the son was being pursued by other people (chief priests, pharisees and the scribes); when the son was betrayed and denied; when the son is unjustly punished. Yes, the most difficult, is the Mother burying her own son. Certainly, Mary had many questions in life but indeed picked up her crosses in life because she trusted God.
3. She Knew That Life is Uncertain But God Can Be Trusted. In her Fiat, Mary proclaimed: that God has blessed her so much; that God is faithful from generation to generation; that God is in control and not the proud and powerful; God will provide to those who have nothing in life and call upon his name and He is a promise keeper. In other words, in a life wherein nothing is certain, God can be trusted. 

Hence in every Mass, we reflect on our lives:

• Pursue not good luck nor good fortune, because, like difficult times, they too are fleeting and passing. While we are here on earth, put our trust only in God.
• Mary was assumed to heaven, body, and soul. May we realize that we are only passing in this life. May we always be guided with what is important and essential versus what is passing and fleeting.
• Lastly, Mary’s assumption into heaven is a victory over evil. Remember in Genesis, God said that there will be enmity between the Woman and the serpent. In these times, the serpent is working overdrive. In 1917, Mama Mary was already warning humanity of God’s wrath unless we change our ways. World War II was that chastisement. Over a hundred years after Fatima, humanity is not in a better situation: there are 60 million abortions every year. We have lost our sense of scandal and sin. Wrong is made right and they are loud and bold and the right is made wrong along with persecution and shaming. Yet we trust God, like Mary, and in God’s time and ways, good will always prevail.