Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
Written by Ginny Casey
“And the king rose to meet her, and bowed down to her; then he sat on his throne, and had a seat brought for the king’s mother and she sat on his right. Then she said, ‘I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me.’ And the king said to her, ‘Make your request my mother; for I will not refuse you.’” (1 Kings 2:19b-20)
Who is the queen who sits at the King’s right hand arrayed in gold? When we look back at 1 Kings, Chapter 2 we see King Solomon place a throne to his right for a queen but it is not the queen who is the bride of Solomon, but rather Solomon’s mother. Solomon is foreshadowing Christ who will be born of his line, from the house of David, and Solomon’s mother is foreshadowing Mary’s queenship, when she will sit at Christ’s right hand in heaven. We also know from this passage that the king will never deny the requests of the queen mother.
In the psalm today, we hear about the queen mother who is at the King’s right hand arrayed in gold. However, we also hear about a daughter and a bride: “Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear, forget your people and your father’s house.” (Psalm 45:10). Who is the daughter and bride of the king? And what can it mean that she should forget her people and her father’s house?
A long time ago (before I met my husband) I met a woman named Tricia Casey on a mission trip to the city of New Orleans with some of my college peers. Now Tricia is that special (but not too rare) kind of Catholic mother who thinks she knows absolutely everything that is best for her son and whose most earnest desire was for him to marry ONLY a Catholic woman. I visited with Tricia for a while on the mission trip and I guess my being Catholic was enough to win her affection because she quickly turned our conversation to her youngest son Peter (who was not present). She started singing his praises and (because I was no stranger to Catholic mothers and their fantasies) I could tell where her mind was headed.
Despite her pleading that I meet her son Peter and “befriend” him, I made no effort to find him on my school’s campus upon returning from New Orleans. However, one fateful day I did come across Peter Casey walking through the rosary circle at Franciscan University. A friendship did develop between us, and, after a long period of dating, Peter realized he could not refuse his mother’s request and so he made me his bride.
Now my mother-in-law is certainly not immaculate but I use this comical story to illustrate who in the Psalm is the Queen Mother and who is the daughter/bride. We the Church are the Bride of Christ. When we deny our “people and our father’s house” we are refusing to merely be children of Adam and Adam’s sin and instead are adopted by Christ. Mary was preserved from the sin of Adam and she invites us into her family that is free from sin. Then she will present us to her son as a spotless bride and He will not refuse us because He cannot refuse His mother.
We must cling to Mary, the Queen Mother, if we hope for Christ to not refuse us on our judgment day. She is the mediatrix of our salvation and the only one to sit at His right hand. As Catholics we have many prayers and devotions which are at our disposal but none can help us to work out our salvation so well as the rosary and devotion to Mary. How often can you commit to praying the rosary or even just one decade? Let us resolve to unite ourselves to the Queen Mother more fully this week. Then, when we have devoted ourselves to her as her children, let us beg her to make us her request, and she will make of us a request He cannot refuse.
Ginny Casey is married to the heroic Peter Casey who has blessed her with six children. A former D.R.E. and religion teacher, Ginny now stays home to homeschool their children. She is currently studying to become a Licensed Professional Counselor so that she can serve fellow Catholics with her knowledge of theology (as well as clinical mental health) to assist them on their journey toward peace in Christ.
Pray with today’s psalm.