August 15: Feast of the Assumption, Last Day of Vacation, Man of Leisure

Yes, I have reached the last day of my vacation.  Now all I have to look forward to is one week at the beginning of January, 2012.  It's quite depressing if I take time to contemplate it.  Therefore, I'm trying hard not to be too reflective today.  It may cause a mid-life, mid-career crisis that I don't care to deal with at the moment.

Today is also the Feast of the Assumption.  For my non-Catholic disciples, it's the day the Catholic Church celebrates the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, body of soul.  That sounds pretty impressive.  I know most Christian churches view the Catholic Church's veneration of Mary as some form of goddess worship, akin to the Israelites dancing and praying to a golden ox in the desert.  The way I've always viewed Mary (whether she stayed an eternal virgin, had children with Joseph after the birth of Christ, whatever) is as a figure very close to the heart of God.  He wouldn't have chosen her as the mother of Jesus if there wasn't something special about her.  Mary carried the Son of God in her body for nine months.  That sort of makes her unique among human beings.

So, if you have a hard time with Mary as a virgin or queen of heaven, think of her as a friend, someone you want on your side when the chips are down.  I always have a hard time turning my mother down if she asks me to do something.  I'm thinking Jesus (nice, Jewish boy that He was) would have a hard time turning Mary down, as well.

One of the prettiest images of the Assumption

Well, my time as a man of leisure is coming to a close.  Tomorrow morning, I strap the old feed bag back on and head out to the back forty to do some plowing.  All good things must come to an end, I guess.  Maybe I'll whisper a few words to Mary tonight, see if she can snag me a full-time job at the university, with benefits and a good salary.  If she can get Jesus to turn some jars of water into wine, she should be able to talk Him into doing me this little favor. 

Excuse Saint Marty as he steps outside to sing Schubert's Ave Maria.