Assumption of Our Blessed Mother

Introduction

Our Blessed Mother was utterly docile and responsive to God.  We are called to contemplate God and imitate her. Her canticle, the “Magnificat”, is a window into the depth of her prayer life, the beauty of her soul and the warmth of her heart. Sensitive to the Holy Spirit, guided by the Divine Comforter, she understood through faith that the Almighty had indeed done a marvellous for her – she was to be the Mother of God.  Today, through the Assumption, we are reminded of our own resurrection and the hope of the world to come.

The Homily

We are on the Mount of Olives. We are gazing upwards, almost straining our eyes. The last rays of the refulgence that surrounds Jesus as he ascends into heaven are just perceptible. Soon it is over; there is nothing but the bare sky as before. Christ the Son of God has ascended into heaven. Filled with awe, wonder and joy, the disciples, among whom is Mary, the Mother of Jesus, make their way back to Jerusalem. In the mind of each there is this one question: “When will I see Jesus, my Master, again?” But above all the rest, in the heart of Mary: “When will I see my Son again?” How she longed to be with him! What was the world to her without her Son? She felt she had no more purpose in life; her vocation was ended, except that she was needed to nurse the newly born Mystical Body of Christ, just as she had once nursed the little body of Jesus. But withal there remained that deep intense longing for her Son, the relic of the love between them. We often speak of dying for something, or dying to have something. If there was anyone who died of sheer longing it was the Mother of Jesus. She could not live apart from her Son. (The longing, the pull was too strong, too intense for her soul, so much so that her soul too flight from her body.) So by God’s decree she took flight on the wings of longing. Love had given her at the foot of the Cross the supreme sorrows of death, and now death gives her the sovereign delights of love. Our Saviour could do no other than honour his earthly Mother next to his Eternal Father. He had the power to adorn his first tabernacle by preserving her from the corruption of the grave. He would draw her, body and soul, back to himself in a glorious Assumption. If a mother’s longing could have such a happy ending, why not her children’s? If a mother loves her children why should she exclude them from her joy? Mary’s Assumption is our hope. She must surely want to see her Son take us to himself. She must surely want us to have the same longing for Jesus her Son. All initiative comes from God. From all eternity he has marked us out for himself by planting in our hearts a desire for him. There is an eternal longing in the heart of man. We are all the members of the Body of Christ, citizens of God’s republic. We have the Life and we know the Way. We need once again to open our eyes and look into our hearts to see if they are not well directed. Is it towards things that are shifting or towards the one great unchanging Reality? Let me tell you something lighter.  Some of the small towns in “la bella Italia”, Italy for you, are celebrating today’s feast with a charming twist. The ceremony is called “L’Incinata”, which literally means bowing procession.  The town’s people carry a statue of Mary down the principal street with gyrating excitement. From the other end of town comes another happy group of movers and shakers carrying a statue of her Son, Jesus. He is coming to rendezvous with Mary. Under a gorgeous canopy of flowers and branches the two groups are joined. Jesus and his Mother bow to each other solemnly. The “I’Incinata”! Then the dancing villagers carry Mary and her Son side by side to the church. The Lord is leading his mother to her throne in heaven.

Today’s ancient feast teaches us to accept gladly the advice of W.B. Yeats to “walk proud, open eyed and laughing to the tomb.” For the death of Mary reminds us, in the words of Wilfrid Sheed, that “old age and death are equally natural and simply the next thing to do.” And like the dearest woman we came to honour today, we will not be delaying in our respective tombs in any event.  Our God honours his promises, he reverses the order of this world, and he will not disappoint us but will do great things for us.  Whatever happened to Jesus and Mary must happen to us. Mary’s Assumption leaves us with the shimmering dream of great things to come.

Prayer of St. Cyril of Alexandria (d. 444):

Hail Mary, Mother of God, the whole world’s treasure, commanding its reverence, lamp that will never cease to burn, crowning glory of the virgin state, mainstay of orthodox faith, temple that none can demolish, place that encompasses him whom no place encompasses, both mother and virgin. Thanks to you, he who comes in the name of the Lord is called blessed in the holy gospels. Hail to you. To him who is not bounded by any place you have given a place in your holy virginal womb. Thanks to you, the Trinity is glorified and the Cross called precious and given honour throughout the world. Thanks to you, the heavens rejoice, the angels and archangels keep festival, and evil spirits are put to flight.

Feast of the Assumption of Mary,