It was the night of August 1947. As the drums rolled and conches blew the midnight hour, India moved from foreign rule to independence. In the flush of freedom, our leaders spoke a new tongue, they breathed a new spirit into the dry bones of a buried nation.
Looking at India today, we are tempted to become pessimistic, we are disenchanted and disillusioned by what we see all round us. And so the question -Are we independent?
The answer seems to echo from the twin feast we celebrate today. Significant indeed it is that India achieved Independence on the day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Because she has been liberated for ever from the realm of sin and death by the power of the Spirit of the Risen Lord. Mary stands as a sign and sure hope in our struggles towards freedom and liberation, her complete independence from the enslaving forces reminds us that true independence is attained by the power of the Spirit.
In the gospel of Luke 4:13-22, Jesus finds an expression of his own mission, Jesus reveals to us that he has come to liberate the captives from sickness, sin and death. Jesus curing and healing of the sick symbolize and signify the liberation and salvation Jesus announces.
Luke writes about Mary’s Magnificat victory song or a liberation song. Mary has attained total freedom from sin and death and so she celebrates the victory she has realised, the victory grace has achieved in her. The Magnificat proclaims the cause of joy celebrated in the feast of the Assumption.
In the Magnificat, Mary recalls the wonderful deeds of God for his people. Mary rejoices in the raising of the lowly and the downfall of the proud, as she recounts how God has sided with the poor and the oppressed and fought for their liberation by emptying the rich and the mighty. Thus, the magnificat is a hymn of an anew confessing her faith in the liberation power of Yahweh.
On Independence Day, the two scripture readings present us both Jesus and Mary as champions of freedom and liberation. In Isaiah’s words, Jesus announces his mission of liberating the captives who sit in darkness. And as co-liberator, Mary sings that only those who are humble and trust in God’s redeeming power can fulfil the mission of leading people to total freedom.
As we celebrate Independence Day we are well aware of so many blind forces stifling our freedom and independence. Particularly, corruption, poverty, disease, ignorance are enslaving us.
In such a situation, to find true independence the country needs a lot of dedicated men and women who have freed themselves from selfish existence. Is not this a challenge to Christians who are called to witness to Christ who has liberated us for love and service. For the preaching of the Gospel (glad tidings of freedom offered by God) must be accompanied and illustrated by our concern for and involvement in the service of our countrymen.
For only in and through dedicated service could we snow to others that we are truly liberated from selfishness, and it is our life of freedom from all shadows of egoism that would stimulate and challenge others to strive for true liberation.
Mary the totally free child of God, and the patroness of our country obtain for us and our land that liberation, which is a gift of Jesus Christ. As the refrains says: Into that heaven of freedom, My Father! let my country awake!
Sisters
St. Joseph Convent