THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
15 AUGUST 2021
The Book of
Revelation was written to give hope to the baptized who were suffering for
their commitment to Christ. They
believed that the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead and rules over the whole
world. However, that belief clashed with
the Roman emperors’ claim that they were divine. The Roman emperor Domitian gave himself the
title “Our Lord and our God.”
To inspire
the baptized to live like Christ as their Lord and God, the author of
Revelation sets heavenly visions before them.
Heaven is not a distant ideal place. Rather, it is a realm that exists
side by side and intermingles with the earthly realm. In today’s passage, the author presents a
hopeful vision. The woman with the crown
of twelve stars on her head represents the twelve tribes of Israel, the Church,
from whom the Messiah comes. She is
surrounded by light. The sun envelops
her. The moon is beneath her feet. A crown of twelve stars rests on her
head. The dragon represents the powers
of darkness over the earth. The seven crowns
represent its false claims to absolute authority. A sweeping tail demonstrates its paralyzing
efficiency. The red skin symbolizes
death, the fate it intends for the woman and for those who believe in her
child. However, the dragon fails. The newborn is “caught up to God and his
throne.” In other words, earth and
heaven are intermingled on the battlefield of the cross. The Father rescues him from death in the
resurrection.
As we
celebrate the Assumption of Mary into heaven, we reflect more deeply on her
role in this Mystery. The woman is the
symbol of the Church. But Mary is the
symbol of the Church who still gives birth in the lives of the faithful. Pope Saint Leo the Great said: “Christ placed in the baptismal font the
source of his origin in the womb of the Virgin:
the power of the most high and the overshadowing of the water to give
rebirth to the believer.” Another
ancient source says, “Mary carried life in her womb; the Church, in the
baptismal font. In the body of Mary Christ
put on flesh; in the waters of the Church the baptized put on Christ.”
That is why
this Solemnity of the Assumption is so important. We put on Christ when we were baptized. Mary is the first human person to experience
the bodily resurrection of her Son. She
is the promise to us that what has happened to her can happen in us. Her Assumption gives us the blessed hope that
where she has gone, we hope to follow.
This blessed hope encourages us to live our faith now, as it encouraged
the early Christians to live their faith.
This
blessed hope changes the way we view life-changing decisions. Instead of repeating the tired phrase, “it
doesn’t matter,” we realize that all our decisions great and small, truly
matter. Our decisions to take care of
our health and the health of our planet truly matter. Our decisions to respect life from the moment
of conception to natural death truly matter.
Our decisions to remain faithful to our permanent commitments make a
difference.
This
blessed hope focuses our attention on the importance of living with high
expectations. Our faith tells us that we
are moving toward transformation, not dissolution. In God’s time, heaven and
earth will be transformed into a new heaven and a new earth. Death will not be the end, both in our
individual lives, and in the life of the world.
This
blessed hope keeps our eyes focused on Jesus Christ. In celebrating the Assumption, our attention
and energies are drawn to the person of Jesus Christ. That is what both Elizabeth and Mary do in
the Gospel. Elizabeth recognizes the
great gift in the womb of her cousin.
Even her child leaps for joy in her womb. Mary praises God for the workings in her
life. She encourages us to go in haste to
be a people full of grace, not living in anxiety of the future, but waiting in
joyful hope and trust that the promise of the Lord will be fulfilled.
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