psalm 45 - beauty tips - assumption of the BVM

Psalm 45 speaks of inner beauty and if this psalm is prayed on the feast of the Assumption, it is because our Blessed Mother who personifies what we could become, is the beautiful bride herself.  She is the image of the church, the bride of Christ.  Our Blessed Mother embodies what each of you, what each of us can become because of Jesus.  Mary is beautiful, tota pulchra es Maria.  Not just beautiful outwardly but tota pulchra, totally beautiful.  And we can also be beautiful like her.

Today psalm 45 reveals where this beauty is coming from, why the bridegroom is so attracted to her, why the king, her Lord, desires her beauty?

Two things, two beauty tips revealed in Psalm 45.

First, to understand inner beauty let us first know what makes us ugly.  St. Alphonsus Liguori says that there are three things that make us ugly: attachments, remorse, and uncertainty.  Attachments to things, to reputation, attachment to bygone realities, attachments to what we can do before but now no more.  Siling ni St. Alphonsus these can make us resentful and unpleasant. 

Second, Remorse burdens us by so many regrets, past mistakes that we cannot forgive ourselves of, anger turned into hatred that can get us stuck up, we cannot move on.  With so much remorse we end up bitter.

Uncertainty too can make us insecure, the lack of confidence on what lies beyond, of what is in store in the future, and so we become doubtful and suspicious, we become less trustful of ourselves and of others.

In contrast Psalm 45 reveals to us the first beauty secret -  "hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear, forget your people and your father’s house."  It assures the bride in her anxieties and apprehensions:  do not live in the past, do not allow your past to control you, move on, leave behind the things that burden you, plunge yourself instead into the embrace of the king who loves you, who will take care of you.  Be confident in him, be assured in him, have faith.

And so with St. Augustine we affirm our faith saying:  We rely on God's mercy for our past mistakes, on God's love for our present needs, on God's providence for our future.

And so we come to the second beauty tip from Psalm 45:  "The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold. So shall the king desire your beauty; for he is your lord." 

Probably at this age all of us already know, all of us are finally convinced that happiness is a choice and beauty is given.  Psalm 45 also asserts that beauty is given and Jesus the bridegroom is the source of beauty.  It is Jesus who cloths us with gold; it is Jesus who makes something beautiful out of our life; through his grace it is Jesus who turns our ugliness into something beautiful for God; and it is Jesus who is able to see in us the beauty he clothes us with. 

Everything in Mary are gifts from God – her immaculate conception, her motherhood, her being a disciple who followed him all the way to the cross, her assumption into heaven, her queenship – everything that made her tota pulchra.  And if there is one thing that Mary did, it was to allow God to do all these marvelous things in her life.  That was Mary's choice – to allow God.  This is also the invitation for all of us – allow Jesus to make you beautiful, to erase your sins and ugliness, to array you with his grace.  Only Jesus can make you really beautiful.