Recovering the “Yes” we give, every August 15 for 150 Years.

Link to download: Vigil—Feast of the Assumption

Gathering Song

(Listen in quiet contemplation)

It’s Time, I Give You My Yes,
Schoenstatt https://youtu.be/3c0CQm1P7zA

Hoy es tiempo de empezar a construir un mundo,
un mundo de amor, un mundo lleno de paz,
Hoy me quiero levantar con la confianza puesta en ti,
con el anhelo de lograr llevarte a cada corazón,

          Today is the time to start building a world,
          a world of love, a world full of peace.
          Today I want to get up with the trust I have in you,
          with the desire to take you to every heart.

Quiero entregar mi servir, quiero ser fiel a tu misión.
Hoy es tiempo de empezar a transformar el corazón.
Hoy se que lo entregare por entero a tu misión.
Hoy me decidí: te entrego mi Sí…

          I want to serve, I want to be faithful to your mission.
          Today is the time to start transforming the heart.
          Today I know that I give myself entirely to your mission.
          Today I decided: I give you my Yes…

Es difícil creer que me aceptes tal como soy
y es ahí cuando logro entender lo maravilloso de tu amor.
Padre, vamos juntos, Madre se mi guía. Cristo, dame fuerza,
Espíritu de Dios, enciende el corazón.

          It’s hard to believe that you accept me as I am,
          and that’s when I understand how wonderful your love is.
          Father, let’s go together, Mother be my guide. Christ, give me strength,
          Spirit of God, enflame my heart.

Hoy es tiempo de empezar a transformar el corazón,
Hoy me quiero entregar por entero a tu misión.
Hoy me decidí, te entrego mi sí.
Hoy me decidí, mi vida la entrego por ti.

          Today is the time to start transforming the heart.
          Today I want to give myself entirely to your mission.
          Today I decided, I give you my yes.
          Today I decided, I give you my life.

Sacred Silence

Psalm: In the wind of your Spirit, with Mary.

(two choirs)

The Psalm is prayed in two choirs, alternating verses between the two choirs. The Antiphon is prayed together.

Antiphon: Let us go with Mary before the Lord!

In the wind of the Spirit
that inspired and ordered from the beginning the entire creation
and instilled breath of life in all beings,
we stand, Lord.

In the wind of your Spirit that guided your prophets and messengers,
and with all your people,
through the ambiguous paths of history,
we venture, Lord.

In the wind of your Spirit that entered
and pounded in the heart and belly of Mary of Nazareth,
making her bearer of life and hope,
we live, Lord.

In the wind of your Spirit that consumed Jesus
filling him with strength and tenderness
to announce the Good News to the poor,
we risk, Lord.

In the Wind of your spirit that took away prejudice and fear on Pentecost,
and opened wide the doors of the upper room,
so that the entire Christian community would always be sensitive to the world,
free in his word, consistent in his testimony and invincible in its hope,
we are open, Lord.

In the wind of your Spirit, that carries today the new fears of the Church,
which criticizes in her all power that is not service
and purifies it with poverty and martyrdom,
we gather, Lord.

In the wind of your Spirit, which blows where it wants, free and liberating,
victorious over law, sin and death,
and is soul and breath of your Kingdom,
we obey, Lord.

All: Let us give glory to the Father, for his Son, in the Spirit of Love.
Let it be as before, now and forever. Amen.

Antiphon: Let us go with Mary before the Lord!

Reading

–WHAT CAN THE ASSUMPTION SAY TO US TODAY?  (Theologian Cettina Militello. Rome, November 1st, 2000)

— In the context of cultural transition in which we live, as contemporary people who increasingly face the search for meaning, the issue to be emphasized [with the Assumption] is that of corporeality: this dogma states that the body of Mary, a woman’s body, is exalted. This, in fact, is paradoxical for us: precisely the female body, in our culture, has long been the emblem of disdain. Mary, on the other hand, exalted in her Assumption, revolutionizes this idea: our corporeality, regardless of its imperfections, is called to transfiguration in God’s design.

–Mary shows, therefore, what waits for us… But it also says something about our current condition, about this body of ours, the place where we enter into relationship with the other, and with creation. At the heart of the Assumption is the mystery of the Incarnation: If Christ became flesh, the corporeal dimension is not the same as before. The risen one has already brought us into this new reality, and leads us to interpret space and time in a different manner. What, in Mary, has already been entirely fulfilled, we are also called to experience in a sacramental way in the relationship with our body.

–But, what does the body of Mary assumed into heaven have to say about our ultimate destiny? — It is for us the horizon, our goal, a sign of hope. Mary shows us the “fullness” of the flesh: salvation is not a disembodied dimension. The images used in Scripture, all the good we have been promised, clearly say so. But images like those of the Apocalypse (the wife, the banquet) … make us intuit through the symbols that the “fullness” will not only be spiritual.

To conclude, the Pope [Francis] stated that “before the desecration and the debasement to which modern society often subjects the body, especially the female, the mystery of the Assumption proclaims the supernatural destiny and dignity of every human body.”

Sacred Silence

Responsory

Leader: For our sesquicentennial Jubilee to be meaningful to the world in which the Word has been made incarnate, let us express to God our plea to entrust the needs we have seen and have made ours at so many gatherings:

Response: In Mary’s Assumption, listen to us, Lord.

Aba – Ima, (God Father-Mother) grant us an attentive ear and solicitous hand to the Word made flesh today in the cries of pain and hope of our migrant brothers and sisters … R./

Jesus, may the challenges that made us stronger and have kept us humble through the years of expansion or decline, continue transforming us and lead us to continue your incarnation in today’s world … R./

Incarnate Word, illuminate our minds, and strengthen our will, for us to know how to help the victims of human trafficking. Touch and convert the hearts of those who are involved in this cruel activity … R./

We ask you, God of Love and mercy, that we who carry the charism of the Congregation – Sisters, Associates, missionaries and collaborators – continue to mutually invite each other to passionately live in the Mission and Charism that gives meaning and identity to our commitment … R./

That we may live, good God, in solidarity with the most vulnerable people and with all of creation, being more and more united, inclusive and integrated in you, source of peace, justice, truth and love. And may this trait be a vocational invitation for those who seek to closely follow you … R./

Leader: All this, we ask you. We thank you and we praise you, Incarnate Word, for Mary who has gathered us today to celebrate the gift of her Assumption, recovering and bringing to fulfillment the dignity of every woman, of every man, and of all the creation, united to your Resurrection, to live with you, with the Father, in his Spirit of Love.

All: Amen.

Magnificat

Antiphon: Because God has seen the humiliation of his people, they will call me blessed.

Sing an appropriate setting of the Magnificat

(At the end, we repeat the antiphon)

Final Prayer

Leader: Good God, you created us and to you we return through following the Incarnation of your Word. We thank you for allowing us to celebrate together the Assumption of Mary. We pray together for the hope of recovering the dignity of “woman.” We ask you for boldness to assume this as part of our mission, and as we celebrate our Jubilee Year, for the humility to accept our smallness. Through Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word.

Prepared by S. Tere Fernández.