The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, present the gift of full and eternal life through the relationship of Mary to Christ and the Church.
The reading from the Book of Revelation uses the imagery of the Woman and the Dragon.
* [12:1–6] The woman adorned with the sun, the moon, and the stars (images taken from Gn 37:9–10) symbolizes God’s people in the Old and the New Testament. The Israel of old gave birth to the Messiah (Rev 12:5) and then became the new Israel, the church, which suffers persecution by the dragon (Rev 12:6, 13–17); cf. Is 50:1; 66:7; Jer 50:12. This corresponds to a widespread myth throughout the ancient world that a goddess pregnant with a savior was pursued by a horrible monster; by miraculous intervention, she bore a son who then killed the monster.
* [12:2] Because of Eve’s sin, the woman gives birth in distress and pain (Gn 3:16; cf. Is 66:7–14).
* [12:3] Huge red dragon: the Devil or Satan (cf. Rev 12:9; 20:2), symbol of the forces of evil, a mythical monster known also as Leviathan (Ps 74:13–14) or Rahab (Jb 26:12–13; Ps 89:11). Seven diadems: these are symbolic of the fullness of the dragon’s sovereignty over the kingdoms of this world; cf. Christ with many diadems (Rev 19:12).
* [12:5] Rule,iron rod: fulfilled in Rev 19:15; cf. Ps 2:9. Was caught up to God: reference to Christ’s ascension.
* [12:6] God protects the persecuted church in the desert, the traditional Old Testament place of refuge for the afflicted, according to the typology of the Exodus; see note on Rev 11:2. (Revelation, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 45 is an Ode for a Royal Wedding.
* [Psalm 45] A song for the Davidic king’s marriage to a foreign princess from Tyre in Phoenicia. The court poet sings (Ps 45:2, 18) of God’s choice of the king (Ps 45:3, 8), of his role in establishing divine rule (Ps 45:4–8), and of his splendor as he waits for his bride (Ps 45:9–10). The woman is to forget her own house when she becomes wife to the king (Ps 45:11–13). Her majestic beauty today is a sign of the future prosperity of the royal house (Ps 45:14–17). The Psalm was retained in the collection when there was no reigning king, and came to be applied to the king who was to come, the messiah. (Psalms, PSALM 45 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, Christ is described as the Firstfruits of those who have died.
* [15:24–28] Paul’s perspective expands to cosmic dimensions, as he describes the climax of history, the end. His viewpoint is still christological, as in 1 Cor 15:20–23. 1 Cor 15:24, 28 describe Christ’s final relations to his enemies and his Father in language that is both royal and military; 1 Cor 15:25–28 inserts a proof from scripture (Ps 110:1; 8:6) into this description. But the viewpoint is also theological, for God is the ultimate agent and end, and likewise soteriological, for we are the beneficiaries of all the action.
* [15:26] The last enemy…is death: a parenthesis that specifies the final fulfillment of the two Old Testament texts just referred to, Ps 110:1 and Ps 8:7. Death is not just one cosmic power among many, but the ultimate effect of sin in the universe (cf. 1 Cor 15:56; Rom 5:12). Christ defeats death where it prevails, in our bodies. The destruction of the last enemy is concretely the “coming to life” (1 Cor 15:22) of “those who belong to Christ” (1 Cor 15:23).
* [15:27b–28] The one who subjected everything to him: the Father is the ultimate agent in the drama, and the final end of the process, to whom the Son and everything else is ordered (24, 28). That God may be all in all: his reign is a dynamic exercise of creative power, an outpouring of life and energy through the universe, with no further resistance. This is the supremely positive meaning of “subjection”: that God may fully be God. (1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 15 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Luke, Mary Visits Elizabeth and recites a Song of Praise.
* [1:45] Blessed are you who believed: Luke portrays Mary as a believer whose faith stands in contrast to the disbelief of Zechariah (Lk 1:20). Mary’s role as believer in the infancy narrative should be seen in connection with the explicit mention of her presence among “those who believed” after the resurrection at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1:14).
* [1:46–55] Although Mary is praised for being the mother of the Lord and because of her belief, she reacts as the servant in a psalm of praise, the Magnificat. Because there is no specific connection of the canticle to the context of Mary’s pregnancy and her visit to Elizabeth, the Magnificat (with the possible exception of v. 48) may have been a Jewish Christian hymn that Luke found appropriate at this point in his story. Even if not composed by Luke, it fits in well with themes found elsewhere in Luke: joy and exultation in the Lord; the lowly being singled out for God’s favor; the reversal of human fortunes; the fulfillment of Old Testament promises. The loose connection between the hymn and the context is further seen in the fact that a few Old Latin manuscripts identify the speaker of the hymn as Elizabeth, even though the overwhelming textual evidence makes Mary the speaker. (Luke, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)
Vivian Amu comments that the assumption of Blessed Mother Mary reminds us that with God, nothing is lost, and death is not to be feared. Her assumption reminds us of the strength of hope and humility; this strength is a grace that carries us forward with our eyes fixed on heaven.
Following Mary’s example of discipleship, maybe we can do just one thing this day…accompany someone who needs a friend, or visit someone you haven't seen in a while. Maybe even spend time with someone afraid of the possibility of dying alone, even with the promise of new life. We might also share an experience with someone who feels alone, or accompany someone going through a transition in life. I, like Elizabeth, feel a leap of joy within me when Mary spends time with me. Spend time with those needing your friendship, love, and assurance, and ask Blessed Mother to spend time with you.
While God works on what troubles us, and either lightens our burdens or strengthens our spirit, let us put aside our list of many needs, wants, and hurts and, just for a moment, ask the Blessed Mother if we can just lay our head on her lap to rest awhile as we entrust our life path to God.Blessed Mother Mary, with your guidance, help us live a life of humility and trust in God’s faithfulness.
Blessed Mother Mary, pray for us. (Amu, 2023)
Don Schwager quotes “Christ the fruit of the faithful,” by Ambrose of Milan (339-397 A.D).
"You see that Mary did not doubt but believed and therefore obtained the fruit of faith. 'Blessed ... are you who have believed.' But you also are blessed who have heard and believed. For a soul that has believed has both conceived and bears the Word of God and declares his works. Let the soul of Mary be in each of you, so that it magnifies the Lord. Let the spirit of Mary be in each of you, so that it rejoices in God (Luke 1:46-47). She is the one mother of Christ according to the flesh, yet Christ is the Fruit of all according to faith. Every soul receives the Word of God, provided that, undefiled and unstained by vices, it guards its purity with inviolate modesty. (excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 2.26) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 1:39-56 comments that when we see how Mary said yes to all that God asked of her, we can find the courage to say yes to the Lord in whatever he is calling us to do.
As we celebrate Mary’s assumption today, we honor the one who most perfectly embodies lowliness and humility. We honor the one who gave a wholehearted yes to God’s plans—even the most unexpected and painful plans. Mary’s life affirms God’s promise: he will lift us up and reward us when we embrace a spirit of humility and obedience.
“Blessed Mother, teach me to embrace humility so that I can be lifted up with you.” (Meditation on Luke 1:39-56, n.d.)
Dr Sarah Jane Boss, Director of the Centre for Marian Studies at the University of Roehampton, looks at the history of this great Marian feast that ‘honours the whole human person, body and soul’. As we have become so detached from the land that sustains us, we have forgotten about our dependence upon the harvest and have largely lost the sense of the Assumption as a harvest festival, but the feast is still the day on which many communities bless their herbs, or bless the sea and its harvest. For all its joy, however, the Assumption is a feast that arises out of human awareness of death.
We are all made of the dust of the earth, and will rot in the ground or in ashes. At the same time, we all have the possibility of attaining eternal life. In the end, these are the truths that matter, and these are the truths that undergird the stories of Mary’s passing from this world to the next. It is often when people come to a deep realisation of their own mortality – when they see that death is an end which they cannot escape – that they turn to seek spiritual enlightenment. And in discovering the mystery of the cross and resurrection, they find that there is something truer and deeper even than death. What Christ accomplished as God and man is shared with all those who participate in his life; and Mary, as a woman who is solely human, reveals to us what this means. The traditional iconography of Mary’s Dormition – her ‘falling asleep’ – shows Christ taking her soul as a baby, and it thus mirrors images of the Virgin herself holding Christ as an infant. As he descended to Earth by her actions, so he now takes her to be with him in heaven. It was she who gave us the Word of God in his human birth, and it is she whose heavenly rebirth teaches the truth of what Christ’s divine humanity offers to each one of us. (Boss, 2013)
Friar Jude Winkler discussed the imagery in Revelation and how it relates to Mary and the Church giving birth to Christ. He notes the connection to the stars and the fallen angels and the desert as a place of protection. Paul speaks about the Resurrection in conflict with the Greek idea of the soul being imprisoned in the body. Friar Jude presents Mary as the new Ark of the Covenant noting that in Ein Karem, John the Baptist gives witness to Christ as Mary visits Elizabeth across the valley from Abu Gosh where David placed the Ark of the Covenant for three months.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, considers the “both/and” nature of the prophetic charism and call. Prophets were both radicals and traditionalists. They were radical believers in God and radical lovers of God’s people. We can even say they were radical traditionalists. Their penetrating insight saw into the heart of their own tradition, the tradition that went back to YHWH’s covenant with Israel, the tradition that went further back than their recent religious institutions. They reminded their people of God’s faithfulness to that covenant, and they called them to be faithful to the God who gave it to them. [1]
The prophets, past and present, first call us into that experience of God’s love which radically alters our vision of ourselves and our outlook on life. Too often we are concerned about petty things that in the end do not really matter. What the prophets are saying is this: Let God do something good for us. Let God lead. Enter into the experience of God’s presence and love. We shouldn’t be surprised if we find ourselves falling in love with our tradition and wanting to radically change the way things are. Entering into the vision and love of God alters our perception of reality. [3] (Rohr, 2023)
We ponder both our mortality and our eternal life through the Word that brings Life.
References
Amu, V. (2023, August 14). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved August 15, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/081523.html
Boss, S. J. (2013, August 14). The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Thinking Faith. Retrieved August 15, 2023, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20130814_1.htm
Luke, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 15, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/1?39
Meditation on Luke 1:39-56. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved August 15, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/08/15/758981/
1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 15 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 15, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/15?20
Psalms, PSALM 45 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 15, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/45?10
Revelation, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 15, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/revelation/12
Rohr, R. (2023, August 15). Prophets Are Radicals and Traditionalists — Center for Action and Contemplation. Richard Rohr. Retrieved August 15, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/prophets-are-radicals-and-traditionalists-2023-08-15/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). My Spirit Rejoices in God My Savior. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 15, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=aug15a
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