I’ll just say yes
You lead the way
I’m not afraid of what it means for me to say
This life You gave is not my own
I’m trusting you to hear my yes and lead me home.

               Brian Courtney Wilson

‍

When I think about the readings today, and I think about what we're celebrating - the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - my heart automatically goes to the song because Mary is the embodiment of what it means to continually say “yes.” And this feast day shows us what is possible for all of us when we can continually say “yes” to God.

Looking at the gospel today, I had to laugh because I attended a school called Visitation Academy from 1st to 12th grade. The school was, sponsored by the Sisters of the Visitation of Holy Mary. And their founders were Saint Francis de Sales and Saint Jane de Chantal. Francis Francis would say that he chose Visitation as the grounding founding principle for this community because he wanted to exhibit and honor those things that seem to not always be considered. He called them ‘little virtues’: Gentleness, happiness, meekness, liberty of spirit  - that he saw totally depicted in this scene between Mary and Elizabeth.

Right before Mary goes to visit Elizabeth, she had this remarkable moment with the angel Gabriel at the Annunciation. It's her first ‘yes.’ And notice that Mary does not stop and just sit in that. She could have. But instead, she looks out to see where she can have an impact, where she can be of service to someone else. She doesn't wait for Elizabeth to come to see her. She goes and travels to be hospitable, to be caring, to be in community with Elizabeth. And so, we have that great scene where they meet, John leaps in the womb, and Mary and Elizabeth are filled with joy. And then Mary goes into this beautiful song of praise. And I have to think that that song held her throughout her journey, her life journey. Reminding her that: ‘yes, even though this beautiful gift has been given to me, it's not going to be easy. But I know who I am, and I know that God knows who I am.’

My sisters and brothers, we look in the world today and we see… What do we see? We could dwell in the uncertainty and confusion and pain and strife and the negative. Or we can take our ‘yeses’ to what God is calling us to do and go into the marketplace of the world - whether that's the marketplace of our homes, the marketplace in our communities, the marketplace in a global situation - and be that good news. We can go and do those visits. We can go and be hospitable and caring and loving.

In essence, we can be the woman who is the Ark of the Covenant, the New Covenant, that we carry Christ within us. And as we carry Christ, we bring Christ in what we say and what we do and how we live and how we be.

Let's keep saying “yes.” So that at the end of our journey, we too are assumed. We too are brought close to the One who has always held us close. Amen.