Assumption of the BVM 2023
Apocalypse 11:19, 12:1-6, 10. 1Cor 15:20-2; Luke 1:39-56
“There is nothing new under the sun.” So proclaimed the author of the Book of Ecclesiastes. Whether that is a universal truth I do not know, but it certainly holds true of my homilies. How often have I come up with a bright new idea, only to discover, in checking through files, that I used the same idea three years previously, and six years, and nine years, ad infinitum?
Today, I had the brilliant notion of relating the story of a priest friend of mine, now deceased, who stood in St. Peter’s Square on the day in 1950 when Pope Pius XII declared the doctrine of the Assumption to be an article of faith, to be held by all Catholics. I then looked back, only to discover that I had used that introduction before, though admittedly only once. Still, another priest to whom I once apologised for repeating, at the Diocesan Youth Centre, a form of night prayer which I had used on a previous course which he had attended with a different school responded “The sun rises every morning, and we don’t complain about that”. Consequently, I will proceed with my planned introduction.
My friend of St. Peter’s Square made the point that Pius XII, in promulgating the doctrine, which had in fact been believed from the Church’s early days, emphasised that it is a truth, not about Mary alone, but about the whole Church. Mary, in being raised body and soul to heaven, represented the Church, as its first and only fully faithful member, as she did in every event of her life.
“Christ has been raised from the dead” writes St. Paul, “the first fruits of all who have fallen asleep”, and he goes on to insist that “all people will be brought to life in Christ”. Mary’s Assumption vindicates this assertion by St. Paul. As the first member and the representative of the Church, she has been raised to the fullness of glory as we shall be raised in our turn—and bear in mind that we are speaking here of the events of eternity, which lies not only in the future, but is a present reality. As Our Lord Himself said, whoever believes in Him HAS, not “will have”, eternal life.
So Mary’s Assumption into heaven is for our benefit, because she is one of us. Mary is OUR Lady, because she is OURS. She is our fellow creature, redeemed by the blood of her Son; in her case, redeemed in advance, by virtue of her Immaculate Conception (which should never be confused with her virginal conception of Jesus).
Mary brought Jesus physically and spiritually into the world, as the Church is to bring Him spiritually to birth in the world of today. Mary is the woman filled by the Holy Spirit, as the Church is filled by the same Spirit. In her Magnificat, she is the woman of prayer, praise, and prophecy, as the Church is the people of prayer, praise, and prophecy.
Furthermore, Mary is the one whom her Son calls blessed (as all generations are to do) because she “heard the word of God and keeps it” and brought to birth the Word made flesh. So must the Church do. She is Jesus’ “brother, sister, and mother”, as the true disciple of Jesus which we too must strive to be. Christians are called to carry the Cross; Mary stood at the foot of the Cross, and was named the mother of “the disciple”, of the one who follows Christ.
Now she is “the woman clothed with the sun”, the woman who is Israel, and the Church, and Mary, each in their own way giving birth to the Son “who is to rule all the nations”. Mary and Israel gave birth to the Son in both flesh and spirit: we, who cannot give birth to Him in the flesh, are to give birth to Him in spirit, so that he may be enfleshed anew in us.
Moving from 1950 to the 1960s, to the Second Vatican Council, we see that the Council fathers recognised and emphasised the role of Mary as the embodiment and representative of the Church. Instead of producing a separate document on Our Lady as had been expected, the Council integrated its teaching on Mary into Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. In referring to today’s feast, the Council states “In the meantime, the Mother of Jesus, in the glory which she possesses in body and soul in heaven, is the image and beginning of the Church as it is to be perfected in the word to come”. In other words, Mary is what we shall be. Hence this is our feast, because Mary is Our Lady, because she is ours.
