Bible
Study: Revelation 11:19-12:1-10. / 1st Corinthians 15: 20-27. / Luke
1:39-56.
Today is
the 15th of August, a day we celebrate the glorious Assumption of
the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of God into heaven.
Wondering
what that means? Pause for a while and think about how Elijah’s life on earth
came to an end before handing over to Elisha.
We read
from 2 Kings 2:9-13 “When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask
what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you." And Elisha said,
"I pray you, let me inherit a double share of your spirit." And he
said, "You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken
from you, it shall be so for you; but if you do not see me, it shall not be
so." And as they still went on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and
horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind
into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried, "My father, my father! the
chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" And he saw him no more. Then he took
hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces. And he took up the mantle
of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the
Jordan.
Did Elijah
die? Yes and No. Yes, because he is not around anymore on earth. No, because we
cannot find where his body was buried. If God could be this gracious to his
prophet, then how about his own mother?
When we
speak of the Assumption of Mary, we do not mean it in terms of “Presumption.”
We are not saying that since we cannot find her body or where she was buried, she
‘probably’ went to heaven. The word ‘assumption’ has a different meaning in
this context than when we say something like: “Assuming you have two cars…” It
is possible you do not have two cars but you are asked to assume so. That is NOT
what “Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary” means.
According
to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 966:
“Finally
the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the
course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into
heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she
might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror
of sin and death.” The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular
participation in her Son’s Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection
of other Christians.
In other
words, when we say Mary was assumed into heaven, we are not merely imagining a
possibility, we are saying in essence that Mary was TAKEN UP into heaven. For
instance, if I say “I have assumed office as president of Nigeria”, it means, I
have taken up the position of being president. This is what Assumption of Mary
signifies.
Yes,
unlike the case of Elijah, Mary’s move into heaven is not vividly documented in
the Bible at least not directly. Once again, we are reminded that the fact that
something is not contained in the Bible does not mean it is not true as the
Bible does not contain all the truths in the world. For instance, I was born in
Nigeria but this fact is not contained in the Bible, my birth certificate
confirms that it is true that I was born in Nigeria but I can’t quote a verse
to support that.
Nonetheless,
our readings at Mass today give us helpful clues as to what actually happened.
The first reading is a passage from the book of Revelation. It speaks of a
woman who was at the point of giving birth to a great child and a dragon stood
there waiting to devour the child only for the child to be taken up into heaven
while she went free. The second reading from Paul’s first letter to the
Corinthians compares Christ with Adam. While Adam represents the entrance of
sin and death to mankind, Christ represents the redemption and resurrection of
mankind so for Mary to have given birth to Christ, she is no ordinary woman.
The Gospel
passage from Luke describes the meeting of two women, two living miracles whose
lives were so transformed by the action of the Holy Spirit, one pregnant even
though passed the age of child-bearing, the other pregnant even though she had
never known a man before. The lives of Elizabeth and Mary are proofs that there
is no such thing as IMPOSSIBILITY when it comes to God.
If God
could make a virgin pregnant, what is there in taking up a person body and soul
into heaven?
The words
of Elizabeth to Mary defines her uniqueness amongst everything that God ever
created. “Blessed are you among women.” No woman can ever be more popular than
Mary, no woman can ever rise to a more glorious position than Mary, no woman’s
name will ever be mentioned on the lips of millions and millions of generations
upon generations to come like the name of Mary.
Why do we
honour Mary? Because she is blessed. According to a reflection I read recently,
Mary represents the third and final ARK of God. First there was Noah’s Ark
which preserved the family of Noah from the flood when God destroyed the earth completely
because of sin. But sin ruled the world again and God decided to form a new
people, this time, he gave them the Ark of the Covenant on Mount Sinai. That ark
contained the tablets of the Ten Commandments. But again sin continued to take
men away from God so he then decided to bring his Son Jesus Christ, this time,
the ark that carried him into the world was not made of wood or stone but
flesh, this third and final ark was Mary herself. Was this ark to be toiled
with as the other two? Never.
The first
ark is no more. Nobody knew where Noah left the ark. Solomon built a magnificent
temple for the second ark, a temple which was eventually destroyed and only a
wall of it stands today. Hence, it was absolutely necessary that God himself
should build a temple for the third ark, Mary, in a place where no human power
can destroy. This is what we celebrate today; Mary’s arrival (body and soul
preserved) into the temple of heaven.
Let us
pray:
Lord
Jesus, you did not allow your mother to experience corruption on earth, grant
that through her intercession, I may one day come over to join you in heaven.
Amen
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.
And do have a splendid weekend.
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