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 5thC. 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.
