THE ROSARY teaches the faithful patience and perseverance, UST Rector Fr. Richard Ang, O.P. said during Mass for the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary at the Santisimo Rosario Parish on Saturday, Aug. 15.
In his homily, Ang said the Assumption, the fourth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary, reminds Catholics of the importance of perseverance in an age when many things can be obtained instantly.
“It’s good to pray the Rosary because the Rosary will teach us how to be more patient… how to become more persevering,” Ang said.
He said modern technology has made information and services available with only a few clicks, making patience and waiting increasingly difficult.
Ang connected this lesson to the Gospel account of the Canaanite woman, who persistently sought Jesus’s help for her daughter despite being ignored by his disciples. He described the woman as firm in her goal and unwilling to be discouraged by the obstacles before her.
“Hanga ako sa kanyang pagkamasigasig, sa kanyang paghihintay, sa kanyang pagiging matiyaga,” Ang said.
(I admire the Canaanite woman’s persistence, her willingness to wait and her patience.)
Despite being told to leave, the woman continued to seek Jesus’s help.
“If we isolate her words, we can easily see the intensity of her appeal: ‘Pity me. Help me, Lord,’” the Rector said.
Jesus eventually praised the woman for her faith and granted her request, Ang said, showing how perseverance can strengthen a person even when prayers do not immediately yield the desired answer.
He reminded the faithful that perseverance does not guarantee that they will receive what they ask for, but that the effort can make them better followers of Christ.
“Thy will be done, Lord,” Ang said, urging Catholics to accept God’s will whether or not their prayers are answered according to their desires.
He encouraged the faithful to use the Rosary to relearn patience and the virtue of waiting.
“Sana sa pamamagitan ng banal na Rosaryo, maturuan tayo how to persevere and how to be more patient, and also how to relearn to wait again,” Ang said.
(I hope that through the Holy Rosary, we learn how to persevere, become more patient and relearn how to wait.)
Saying ‘yes’ to God
In an earlier Eucharistic celebration presided over by Vietnamese Dominican priest Fr. Martin Vũ Thái Hiệp, O.P. of the Archdiocese of Hồ Chí Minh City, the faithful were urged to follow Mary’s example of complete trust and surrender to God.
Hiệp said Mary’s life showed how faith requires a person to entrust everything to God and believe that he will accomplish great things.
“She believed in God. She belonged to God, and she surrendered everything she had to God,” he said.
The Dominican encouraged the faithful to follow Mary’s example so that they might one day share in the heavenly glory promised to those who remain faithful to God.
History behind the feast
Hiệp recalled that Pope Pius XII defined the dogma of the Assumption in 1950, declaring that Mary was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.
He noted that belief in Mary’s Assumption dates back to the Eastern Church, where Christians commemorated her “falling asleep,” or Dormition, centuries before the dogma was defined.
Citing the writings of St. John Damascene, Hiệp recalled the tradition that the apostles found Mary’s tomb empty when they opened it at Thomas’ request, leading them to believe that she had been assumed into heaven.
According to a circular from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila, the Solemnity of the Assumption takes precedence over a Sunday in Ordinary Time, making all Masses at the parish on Aug. 15 proper to the solemnity. Bruce L. Buenaventura with reports from Joachim Nigel Z. Tanglao
