[stephenkhoo]

ASSUMPTION OF OUR LADY STRENGTHENS CHRISTIAN HOPE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: REV 11:19, 12:1-6, 10; 1 COR 15:20-27; LK 1:39-56
http://www.universalis.com/20140815/mass.htm

The solemnity of the Assumption is one of the greatest feasts in the Church. Why is this feast of the Assumption celebrated with such solemnity, especially when some of us are not very clear as to what we are celebrating, since this feast is shrouded in mystery?


Furthermore, like the Ascension, this feast is not exactly historical or empirical, where you can visibly see the event. Just as no one witnessed the resurrection of Christ, so too, in the Assumption, no one saw our Blessed Mother Mary glorified in both body and soul. In fact, we are not even sure whether she died or not. No one has also found her body and the dogma of the Church simply states that she was taken up to heaven at the end of her life on earth. Clearly, we are dealing with a trans-historical event like the resurrection and the ascension. Thus, all we can say is the obvious fact that she is not here but only faith can tell us that she is glorified in heaven.


The question is, why do we need the feast of the Assumption when we already have the feasts of the resurrection and the ascension? Whilst it is true that Christ’s resurrection and ascension into heaven provide the basis for our faith in our own resurrection and glorification on the last day, the assumption of Mary, which is her glorification of both body and soul, is a further reiteration of Christian hope that where and what Mary is now, we will be too.


So this is such a great feast because it celebrates Christian hope. Without hope life cannot carry on. But this hope must be real, not a dream or simply a wish. In the Assumption of Mary, the Church is proud that one of her members has arrived at the destiny promised to us all. Indeed, when one of us can make it, we feel happy not only for that person but for ourselves because that person gives hope to all of us as well.


This feast therefore gives us confidence in our pilgrimage to heaven. This life of Mary is also ours. We too can be confident that we will share in Christ’s resurrection. This feast is all the more needed because we live in a pessimistic world where there is a denial of life after death or the resurrection of the body. In a secularized world today, many people do not believe in God or eternal life. Such a feast therefore is important to all Catholics to remind us of the destiny that awaits each one of us.


But it is important to consider how she attained her glorification. She shares in Christ’s glorification simply because she shared in Christ’s saving mission, from the very beginning at the Incarnation until His death on the cross. As St Paul tells us, “Just as all men die in Adam, so all men will be brought to life in Christ; but all of them in their proper order: Christ as the first-fruits and then, after the coming of Christ, those who belong to him.” Hence Mary’s assumption means that Christ’s promise is true. Since she belongs to Him, she too shares in His glorification. Since she was so intimately united with the redemptive work of Jesus, it was appropriate and fitting that she should be the first to share in His glorification.


However, this was possible through grace alone. What is important about this feast is that this victory was founded on the power of grace. Mary’s Assumption into heaven is not due to her merit; rather, it is primarily through the work of grace in her life. This was what she proclaimed when she said in the Magnificat, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my saviour; because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid. Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me.”


Indeed, the Church’s affirmation of her Assumption is not as a consequence of a logical necessity of her having to be glorified. Rather, the Church sees it as fitting that Mary, being the Mother of Christ, who was immaculately conceived through grace and shared in His salvific work so closely, should also be the first to share in Christ’s total victory over sin as prophesied in the book of Revelation.


The truth of the Church’s understanding of this privilege given to Mary is verified in the life of Mary, for in her we see how she cooperated with the grace that came from God in living out her life in total obedience to God’s will and a life of charity reflected in her love for her neighours, especially by standing with Jesus at the foot of the cross for the salvation of humanity. Like the Immaculate Conception, faith in the Assumption of Mary is also based on the manifestation of grace at work in her life.


Mary therefore is our model and our hope. Sharing in her life and cooperating with the grace of God given to us at our baptism, we too will share the life of Christ and be glorified on the last day. Indeed, through this feast and through Mary, we find courage in a world of sin, as depicted in the first reading where Satan and his activities seem to hold sway in the world today. Just as God protected the woman and gave her victory over the Evil one, we too, in the face of sin and our weaknesses need not feel helpless or abandoned by God. Indeed, as the book of Revelation assures us, “Victory and power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ.” St Paul too reassures us of this victory when he wrote, “After that will come the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father … he must be king until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” So we have hope and confidence that like Mary, God’s grace will assure our eventual victory.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh