The Assumption of Our Lady 2021

 

The Assumption of Our Lady                                                       (Revelation 11:19; 12:1-6,10; 1 Corinthians 15:20-27; Luke 1: 39-56)  

    

Let us hear first of all the official teaching, the dogmatic teaching of the Church, about Our Lady’s Assumption which we joyfully celebrate today.  The dogma proclaimed by Pope Pius XII in 1950 is quoted in our modern Catholic Catechism and reads as follows:

The Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.

The Catechism goes on to explain:

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son’s Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians.

That means that Mary’s Assumption is a share in Jesus’ Resurrection; it was not, of course, achieved by her own power, nor was it due to her own singular merits: it was a gift, a unique share in the power of Jesus’ resurrection, given her thanks to the merits of Jesus Who -- though human in body and soul -- was divine in His Person; the very Son-of-God-made-flesh, He alone could win victory over sin and death for the whole of humankind.  Having won that victory using the flesh and blood He received from Mary, the Assumption is Mary’s special sharing with Him because, being the mother of Jesus, she was and is uniquely special to Him.

Her Assumption is most significant for us, because Mary, though most truly the mother of God, remained also just one of us.  Human in body, soul, and personality, Mary was, nevertheless, chosen to become the mother of Jesus -- the Son of God made flesh -- and to be ultimately endowed with a unique participation in His Resurrection, which is her own Assumption.  She always remained not only our full sister, but also became our true glory, Mary of Nazareth; and, therefore, her Assumption is a sign of hope for all of us: a sign that we too – in our measure -- might aspire, by the Spirit of glory, to share with her in Our Lord Jesus’ Resurrection.

Jesus, wanted very much to underline that oneness between us and Mary, His Mother, as we can learn from His somewhat startling response to her on a very public occasion:

His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.  A crowd seated around told Him, "Your mother and Your brothers are outside asking for You."  But He answered them, saying, "Who are My mother and My brothers?"  And looking around at those seated in a circle about Him, He said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother." (Mark 3:31-35)

Evidently, He willed to make it clear for subsequent generations that Mary was no goddess, nor was she ever to be regarded as anything other than one of us.  Nevertheless, as St. John tells us, Jesus -- with what were almost His very last words as He hung, dying, on the Cross -- chose to give the utmost emphasis to the bond of reverence and love that should exist between Mary and all who are His disciples:

Standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala.  When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!"  Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" (John 19:25-27)

Therefore, when Mary, the mother of Jesus, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory, it was not simply for Mary herself: for she is not only our sister whom we might hope to follow; she is also our mother too; and thus, we can be absolutely sure that she will be a most powerful help to us who have been handed over, so to speak, into her maternal care.  In that way we are encouraged to have most firm confidence that if we are faithful disciples of Jesus to the end, we can and will follow Our Lord heavenward and eventually share in His glory, as she, our sister and our mother, has already done.

The dogma of the Assumption was, as I said, promulgated in 1950 by Pope Pius XII.  It was nothing new; it had been loved, meditated and celebrated in the Church from the earliest times.  It was at the beginning of the 5^thC. that the “birthday” of Mary began to be celebrated, and what had been the anniversary, so to speak, of her death -- the Dormition, or sleeping, of Mary – became rather the celebration of her “birthday”, meaning her birth into heaven, her Assumption.  There are apocryphal stories written early in the history of the Church telling of the death of Mary, how her body was buried under the tree of life, and how she was translated into heaven.  Some scholars think these stories arose after the feast started to be celebrated; others, however, think the first of the apocryphal tales go back to the earliest times, and that there was probably an immemorial veneration of the tomb of Mary in Jerusalem by early Jewish converts to Christianity.

Such stories, however, although picturesque and sometimes instructive or even moving, are not the basis of our present faith: that rests on the perennial devotion and worship of the Church under the guidance of the Spirit and the teaching of the Scriptures.

Whenever the body of a disciple of Jesus and child of the Church is brought into church the night before burial we read the Gospel passage which goes:

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:1-2)

There, at the Last Supper, Jesus was speaking to His sorrowing disciples to comfort them in their distress at the thought of His imminent Passion and Death.  Think how Jesus must have willed above all to comfort His Mother in her distress; surely, first and foremost, He would want and most certainly will to prepare a place for her!

And where would that place be?  The disciples were distressed that Jesus was going to be taken from them, and so Jesus promised:

If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to Myself; so that where I am, you also may be. (John 14:3)

Who more than Mary longed to be where Jesus was?  For her agonizing perseverance beside the Cross on which hung her beloved Son, was not other than the most worthy crown of her life-long love, humbly self-effacing service, and supreme devotion, to Him Who was her God-given Joy and Delight.    

Again, Jesus prayed most solemnly at the Last Supper:

Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24)

Now, who could conceivably long to see the glory of her Son more than His Mother?  Who, more than Mary, could conceivably deserve to see the glory of her Son?

However, every such situation and relationship is included in, and embraced by, those other words of Jesus:

If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honour. (John 12:26)

Mary’s whole life with her Son was, indeed, a life of total and whole-hearted love and service, given directly and personally to Jesus from the moment of His conception, and yet, that is not the sum total of Mary’s commitment to and sharing with Jesus throughout their lives on earth, for, just as St. Peter, writing to the early Christians threatened with persecution by the Roman State, said:

If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you (1 Pet 4:14);

so too we are told of Mary that she was blessed with the Spirit of glory and of God resting on her from the beginning of her motherhood.  That is, she was blessed with the ability, and called to embrace the opportunity, to share with her Son in His sufferings; and this was made abundantly clear to her in the Temple at Jerusalem when, we are told -- together with St. Joseph -- she was presenting her Son to the Lord, a Temple priest -- Simeon by name -- came towards them and:

Blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." (Luke 2:34-35)

Yes, Mary followed her Son, unswervingly, to the end, even to the foot of the Cross.

The fact is that Jesus, in all that He did, carried with Him, and worked in and through, the flesh and blood that Mary had uniquely given Him.  She was so intimately one with Him in all that He did in and through His sacred humanity, and that is why she alone has been so uniquely honoured by the Father that she is now where Jesus is, in heaven!  Jesus, bearing Mary’s flesh, had died, was buried, and rose again.  Therefore, Mary too, in her flesh died and was buried; and then -- knowing no corruption just as she had known no sin – she was also, thanks to her Son’s Personal holiness and divine majesty, raised to share with Him in His heavenly glory.

Honoured by the Father and the Spirit of glory at the beginning her Son’s earthly  ministry with a promised share in His sufferings; and after a whole lifetime of total love, dedication, and unremitting service which found its culmination in the agony of Her beloved Son’s crucifixion and her own subsequent -- despite St. John’s reverential love and care -- enduring earthly sense of loss and dereliction; it was indeed only right and fitting that Mary should also be sublimely honoured with that totally unique share in her Son’s Resurrection and eternal glory which we call her Assumption.

People of God, let us, therefore, rejoice on the occasion of this solemn feast, and repeat with heartfelt joy the words of Mary herself:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; for He has looked with favour on the lowliness of His servant.  From this day forward all generations will call me blessed: for the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. (Luke 1:46-49)

Having praised God in the first outpouring of her soul’s gratitude, Mary then spoke words for the comfort of her children, words which should give us both confidence and courage as we strive to serve and follow Jesus our Lord and Saviour:

He has mercy on those who fear Him in every generation.

The Assumption of Mary is still for us, in this the third millennium, a source of inspiration and of hope: for the arm of the Lord is not shortened, His mercy and love are eternal.  What was given to Mary was indeed given to her uniquely, but not exclusively; it was intended also for us, ‘those who fear Him from generation to generation’.  Let us, therefore, as her children, treasure and take to heart the words Elizabeth used to characterize our mother:

Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfilment of those things which were told her from the Lord.