August 22
Memorial of The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Lectionary: 627
Below are the readings suggested for today's Memorial.
However, readings for the Memorial may also be taken from the Common of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, #707-712.
Reading 1
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom
a light has shone.
You have brought them abundant joy
and great rejoicing,
As they rejoice before you as at the harvest,
as men make merry when dividing spoils.
For the yoke that burdened them,
the pole on their shoulder,
And the rod of their taskmaster
you have smashed, as on the day of Midian.
For every boot that tramped in battle,
every cloak rolled in blood,
will be burned as fuel for flames.
For a child is born to us, a son is given us;
upon his shoulder dominion rests.
They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,
Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.
His dominion is vast
and forever peaceful,
From David's throne, and over his kingdom,
which he confirms and sustains
By judgment and justice,
both now and forever.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this!
Responsorial Psalm
R. (2) Blessed be the name
of the Lord for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise, you servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD.
Blessed be the name of the LORD
both now and forever.
R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
From the rising to the setting of the sun
is the name of the LORD to be praised.
High above all nations is the LORD;
above the heavens is his glory.
R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Who is like the LORD, our God, who is enthroned on high
and looks upon the heavens and the earth below?
R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He raises up the lowly from the dust;
from the dunghill he lifts up the poor
To seat them with princes,
with the princes of his own people.
R. Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin's name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
"Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you."
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
"Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end."
But Mary said to the angel,
"How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?"
And the angel said to her in reply,
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God."
Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word."
Then the angel departed from her.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/0822-memorial-queenship-mary.cfm
Commentary on Isaiah
9:1-7; Luke 1:26-38
Today’s celebration occurs on the octave day of the
Assumption of Our Lady. In that feast we celebrate the reunion of Mary with her
Son on the day of her death. She is the first to join Jesus in eternal glory on
the basis that she is the only person, apart from her Son, who was totally free
from sin all her life. As the first of the human race in rank before God’s
presence, and as the Mother of Christ our King, she is given the title of
Queen.
The Gospel reading is the account of the Annunciation taken
from Luke’s Gospel. Just prior to this passage is the story of the announcement
of the conception of John the Baptist to Elizabeth, who was, in the normal
course of things, beyond child-bearing age. Now, six months into Elizabeth’s
pregnancy we are told that the angel Gabriel came on a special mission to a
young girl in the obscure town of Nazareth in Galilee. She was not yet married,
but was betrothed to a man named Joseph. Betrothal meant that she was fully
committed to marriage, but not yet living with her future husband.
The angel greeted Mary:
Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.
Mary is quite alarmed by this greeting. She is not aware of
being in any way special. The angel then goes on to tell her that she is
specially favoured by God. Because of this she will conceive and bear a son,
who is to be called Jesus (whose name means ‘God saves’).
This Son will be very special. He will be great, he will be
called the Son of God, and he will inherit the throne of his ancestor David. He
will become the ruler of the House of Jacob (that is, of Israel), but his
kingdom will never end.
Mary is deeply puzzled. How can this happen to her because
she is not yet married and has no relations with any man? The angel replies
that all this will happen through the special intervention of God. The child
she bears will be no ordinary child; he will be the Son of God, that is, his
Father is God through the power of the Holy Spirit. And, as a confirmation that
what seems impossible can happen, she is told of the pregnancy of her cousin
Elizabeth, something which in the normal course of events should not be possible.
Mary then bows her head and submits unconditionally to the
words of Gabriel:
Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me
according to your word.
This is the high point of human history as we Christians
understand it. With that unconditional acceptance of God’s will for her, in
that moment, the new life began in the womb of Mary. It is the moment of
Incarnation, the moment of God’s enfleshment, of his becoming a member of the
human family and making God visible in a special way in our world.
Mary gave her unconditional ‘Yes’ to God’s request and that
is her glory. But it does not stop there because it is clear that Mary never
for a moment took back that ‘Yes’. She adhered to it through all the
experiences she would have in the years to come, some of them difficult and
painful. And, most painful of all, she stood at the foot of the Cross faithful
to her Son to the very end. She still had no idea of the joy to come.
Last week we celebrated her Assumption into God’s glory to
be with her Son immediately after her death. Today we honour her not ‘just’ as
the Mother of God’s Son. Rather, because Jesus is now Christ the King, she, as
the mother of a king, is a Queen. This we remember each time we pray the
Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary.
Mary, as Queen, is also Jesus’ First Disciple, having given
herself totally and unconditionally to God’s will for her. Let us ask her to
help us to follow in her footsteps that we may live up to our own calling to be
Priests, Prophets and Kings and Queens in Christ’s Mystical Body.
The First Reading is from the prophet Isaiah. It is a text
used by Matthew (chap 4) for the beginning of Jesus’ public life. It refers to
the coming of a Prince of Peace, who brings light into a dark world. He brings
joy and rejoicing and removes the burdens from people’s shoulders.
The second part of the reading tells how this happens. It is
because:
…a child has been born for us, a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders, and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
These titles were majestically put to music by Handel in his
‘Messiah’ oratorio.
The reading’s relevance to today’s celebration is, of
course, that it was through the cooperation of Mary that this Prince of Peace
came to be born. Her role in the great event of the Incarnation was crucial.
Jesus needs to be reborn in each one of us so that his
message can continue to be heard. Let us ask Mary to help us in carrying out
God’s will in our daily lives, and part of that will is that we share our
knowledge of Jesus’ Way with those who have not had the opportunity to hear it.
Mary, Queen of Heaven, pray for us!
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/f0822s/
The Story of the Queenship of Mary
Pope Pius XII established this feast in 1954. But the Blessed Virgin Mary’s queenship has roots in
Scripture. At the Annunciation, Gabriel announced that Mary’s Son would receive
the throne of David and rule forever. At the Visitation, Elizabeth calls Mary “mother
of my Lord.” As in all the mysteries of Mary’s life, she is closely associated
with Jesus: Her queenship is a share in Jesus’ kingship. We can also recall
that in the Old Testament the mother of the king has great influence in court.
In the fourth century Saint Ephrem called Mary “Lady” and
“Queen.” Later Church fathers and doctors continued to use the title. Hymns of
the 11th to 13th centuries address Mary as queen: “Hail, Holy Queen,” “Hail,
Queen of Heaven,” “Queen of Heaven.” The Dominican rosary and the Franciscan
crown as well as numerous invocations in Mary’s litany celebrate her queenship.
The feast is a logical follow-up to the Assumption, and is
now celebrated on the octave day of that feast. In his 1954 encyclical To
the Queen of Heaven, Pius XII points out that Mary deserves the title
because she is Mother of God, because she is closely associated as the New Eve
with Jesus’ redemptive work, because of her preeminent perfection, and because
of her intercessory power.
Reflection
As Saint Paul suggests in Romans 8:28–30, God has
predestined human beings from all eternity to share the image of his Son. All
the more was Mary predestined to be the mother of Jesus. As Jesus was to be
king of all creation, Mary, in dependence on Jesus, was to be queen.
All other titles to queenship derive from this eternal
intention of God. As Jesus exercised his kingship on earth by serving his
Father and his fellow human beings, so did Mary exercise her queenship. As the
glorified Jesus remains with us as our king till the end of time (Matthew
28:20), so does Mary, who was assumed into heaven and crowned queen of heaven
and earth.
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/queenship-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary/
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