My sisters and brothers, it is my great joy to be here at Our Lady’s House (Casa Maria) today on this magnificent occasion celebrating the Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven while, at the same time, we receive the First Vows of Sister Mary Thomas Mattingly into the community of the Sister Servants of the Eternal Word. Celebrating this occasion today is a further reminder for all of us to thank God for our own individual vocations as unique and diverse as each person here today. Each future step for Sister Mary Thomas will enable each of us to renew our attachment to Christ our Savior as she renews her commitment to Christ her Spouse. Through this Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven, may our hearts be opened even wider so that we can tender our own ready “yes” to God’s call without hesitation or delay. In fact, Sister Mary Thomas’ longer more formal name is “of the open heart of Christ.” 

Today’s feast of the Assumption invites us to ponder what awaits us at the end of life. Where are we going? How are we going to get there? Already, Holy Mother Church provides us with Mary as a pattern and guide. We seek to emulate her because she knew her relationship with the Lord was one of a caring mother, while, at the same time, being dependent upon Him as Lord and Savior. She was the one, who through her own generous cooperation, enabled Jesus to enter our world as “one like us.” May Mary inspire us through her humility and her own vocation to guide us to her Son this day and every day, so our vocation can reflect God’s goodness in our personal witness.

I welcome all who are here today, especially the parents and family members of Sister Mary Thomas. It is a great day for her, for the Sister Servants, and, indeed, all of us in the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama.

Every faith journey has its own twists and turns. Undoubtedly, the Lord has “opened your own heart,” Sister Mary Thomas, to seek “the greater gifts” as St. Paul calls them – the gifts from above. For the open heart of Christ, the place of love is the place from which water and blood flowed, signifying the sacraments of baptism and the saving power of the Eucharist. We are born into a family of faith, a family of hope, a family with a future, and nourished by Christ through His Body and Blood so that we may return safely home to be with Him for eternity.

This Solemnity of the Assumption is a further reminder that we cherish the life of our Blessed Mother because of her unique and blessed role in the enterprise of salvation. God could only enter the world and be understood by us if He looked like us in every respect and became one of us. Through His life, death, and resurrection, He re-opened the way for us to return to the Father for eternity. Because of the unique role of Mary, who said her “yes” to the Archangel Gabriel, the messenger of God, she was uniquely prepared to fulfill her role for the salvation of the world. In our Gospel today, Mary is pregnant with Jesus, the Word, when she goes to visit her kinswoman, Elizabeth, who is also expecting John the Baptist. It seems providential the two met, for Elizabeth recounts how the child “leapt in her womb” – so near was Christ. It was as though they instinctively knew and recognized the nearness of Christ. Mary, too, acknowledges her own humility while giving praise to God for the gifts she is now receiving in her Magnificat – her tribute of praise. We are all waiting for the closeness of God’s Holy Word – a Word that will bring comfort, yet challenge; a word of solace and hope; a Word that will make our own hearts leap for joy.

Because she was prepared to receive this Word, when the Archangel Gabriel made God’s proposal to her, and in spite of her young age with her own dreams and aspirations, it is providential that Mary didn’t hesitate to respond with her “Fiat” – “Let it be done to me as you say. (Lk 1:38)” She didn’t say, “Well, I’m going to have to think about it first and pray about it,  and I’ll get back with you.” At her young life, she already wanted what God wanted. She responded with her decisive “Yes!” and, as far as we know, never looked back, entering more deeply in the very dream and love of God. Because of her graced cooperation and because she was born without the effects of Original Sin – so as to prepare her for her unique mission - she also was uniquely spared the effects of that sin such that at what would be her “moment of death,” she would be taken body and soul to Heaven (Mary’s Assumption) to be at the side of Jesus Himself for eternity. In other words, she made it! She becomes a hope for all of us on our pilgrim journey back to the Father.

Sister Mary Thomas, may your life be open and generous as our Blessed Mother’s. Moreover, with the name Thomas, which means “twin,” may you be twinned in the blessed hope that comes from belief in Jesus, the Living Word made flesh, and in the fullness of life which God aspires for each of us that is fulfilled by the graced presence of Jesus in our sacramental journey.

Like our Blessed Mother and all the saints, I wish you an amazing faith journey as part of the Sister Servants of the Eternal Word! May God bless you all!