Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab/ 1Corinthians 15:20-27/ Luke 1:39-56
We know how great an influence a mother has over her children.
Mothers teach their children, and one of the tactics they use is information-overload, i.e., they talk, talk, talk, nag, nag, nag, and they hope that something goes into their children.
But mothers teach not only with their words, but also by their actions.
There are many examples in history of how mothers have influenced their children.
One example from Chinese history is this Chinese general called “岳飞”(Yue Fei)
Yes, just mention the name “岳飞”(Yue Fei) in Chinese circles, and these four words will come to mind: 精忠报国.
Broadly translated it means : Faithfully serve your country.
You may know the story of “岳飞”(Yue Fei) but I will just narrate it briefly.
“岳飞”(Yue Fei) lived during the Southern Song Dynasty, around the 12th century.
At that time, the barbarians were invading China from the north, and the country was also in turmoil and strife.
“岳飞”(Yue Fei’s) mother taught him faithfulness and loyalty since he was young.
So, being a faithful and loyal citizen, he decided to join the army to help protect his country.
When he told his mother of his decision, his mother affirmed him because that was also what she had always taught him.
Being a wise mother and knowing how easy it was to fall into corruption and dishonesty, she made sure that her son remembered what she taught.
So on his back, she tattooed these four words “精忠报国”, i.e., - Faithfully serve your country
Yue Fei became a great general and he served his country faithfully and protected the people against the enemy.
But traitors plotted against him and eventually got him executed.
Yet, Yue Fei served his country faithfully to the end, and he accepted death, even though he knew he was accused by traitors of his own country.
That’s why, mention the name Yue Fei and these four words 精忠报国 came to mind - Faithfully serve your country
And these were the words tattooed on his back by his mother.
So why am I telling you this story？
Today we celebrate the Assumption of Mary into heaven.
This is a very important feast because it celebrates the completion of salvation.
Jesus, by his death and resurrection had overcome sin, and won for us eternal life.
By his ascension into heaven, He has assured us of our place in heaven.
By assuming Mary into heaven, body and soul, God is proclaiming that salvation is a reality.
Mary, a human being had entered into heaven. And so can we.
What God has done for Mary, He will also do for us.
That is also our faith and our hope, that we will enter our eternal home in heaven.
But while we are on earth, we must remember what Mother Mary taught us.
In the gospel of John 2:5, she told the servants at the wedding in Cana : Do whatever He tells you.
And she is telling us the same thing: Do whatever He tells us.
In today’s gospel, she said this: My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.
She is telling us to join her to give thanks to God and also to be faithful to our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Back in 2008, a 98 year-old lady by the name of Irena Sendler passed away.
We may probably ask : Who passed away? What was the name again?
Well, Irena Sendler was a social worker in Poland when the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939 during WW II.
She got permission to work as a sanitation worker in the concentration camp for the Jews in Poland.
She knew what the Nazis were doing to the Jews and she had a motive.
Irena Sendler smuggled the Jewish infants out of the camp in the bottom of the big tool box she carried.
During her time of doing this, she managed to save 2500 babies and young children out of the concentration camp.
But one day she was caught, and she was beaten severely, and had her arms and legs broken, and left for dead.
But she survived. She had also kept a record of the names of all the children she had smuggled out of the camp.
After the war, Irena Sendler tried to locate any parents who might have survived the concentration camp, and to unite them with their children.
But almost all had died in the concentration camp.
Nonetheless their children, the 2500 children survived, the children that Irena Sendler had smuggled out.
Last year, Irena Sendler was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
But she did not win it. But it doesn’t matter anyway.
She had passed on from this world into the eternal world of peace where every tear is wiped away forever.
To save 2500 lives at the risk of your life is not a small thing.
But for the humble and little-known Irena Sendler, she stood in the face of violence and evil, and carried on her mission faithfully.
She was a Catholic, and she was faithful and loyal to what she believed in – that life is sacred because all life comes from God.
In this world, it is so easy to fall into temptation and sin.
It is so easy to be distracted and lose our focus on God and lose sight of our eternal home in heaven.
It is so easy to lose faith in God and to be disloyal to our own values and principles in life.
Earlier on we heard about the Chinese general Yue Fei and his mother.
Yue Fei’s mother tattooed those four words on his back: 精忠报国 which means “Faithfully serve your country”.
Mother Mary also wants us to remember just four words on this feast of her Assumption – Faithfully serve your Lord
Mother Mary also prays for us, that one day, we too, will join her in heaven to praise and glorify the Lord our God.