Feast of the Assumption – B

            Saint Francis DeSales asks the simple question in his sermon for the Assumption:

“What son would not bring his mother back to life and would not bring her into paradise after her death if he could?”  Who could argue with a statement like that?  In Mary’s Assumption the glory of Jesus’ resurrection is first extended to his mother, but as we celebrate it, we celebrate likewise our own hope to share in this risen glory someday.

We recite this belief in the last lines of the creed: “I believe in the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.”

            It is interesting that when Pope Pius XII declared the dogma of the Assumption during a difficult time in recent history. In 1950, when the doctrine of the Assumption was declared, we had just experienced two world wars, the Holocaust, the Atomic Bomb, and the beginning of the Cold War.  The world had enough reason to feel hopeless.  Combined with the pessimism of the time, this dogma offers hope, hope that the destiny of humans is more than wars, destruction, pandemics, and devastation.  This dogma affirms the true dignity and the beauty of the body and the source of that dignity and beauty which is God’s grace within us.

            In the Assumption Mary is fully united with her son in glory.  She remains his mother.  He remains her son.  A Cardinal once said about this feast, “Jesus does not point out Mary and say, ‘She used to be my mother.’”  Not only is she Jesus’ mother but she is our mother too, for on Calvary Jesus gave her to us to be our mother.  We pray to Mary as our intercessor because of the special relationship she has with her son, Jesus.

We are all sinners, so we seek the intercession of the saints in heaven.  We seek the intercession of Mary, the Queen of Saints, the Queen of Heaven, God’s own Mother!

            Saint Germanus of Constantinople considered that the Feast of the Assumption was appropriate in keeping not only with her divine motherhood but also the unique sanctity of her virginal birth, that her body was incorrupt and carried up to heaven.

            The Assumption tells us that God is not only concerned about our souls but also about our bodies. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.  They are part of who we are, and so the feast of the Assumption is a feast that celebrates who we shall be. This feast of the Assumption reminds us that our bodies are holy, and they will be raised in glory on the last day.

            As we celebrate this feast today let us remember the beautiful words of the Angel Gabriel as he proclaimed the Annunciation: Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”

            “O Mary, conceived without original sin, pray for us, who have recourse to thee.”