Bible
Study: Revelation 11, 19 to 12, 1 to 10. 1st Corinthians 15, 20 to 27.
Luke 1, 39 to 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, and 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.
In conclusion,
what exactly is the significance of today’s feast for us? Our opening prayer at
mass gives us a good answer. It prays: “Grant we pray, that always attentive to
the things that are above, we may merit to be sharers in her (Mary’s) glory.
Each time we
take our minds from the world to think consciously and deliberately of heaven, we
actually give a great boost to our faith. It is an exercise that we must
continue every day. Think of heaven, think of home, long for heaven, and allow your
mind to dwell on the lives of the saints.
Colossians
3, 1 to 2: So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are
above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not
on things that are on earth.
Never forget
home. Be like the Israelites who sang this song in captivity: Psalm 137, 1to 5.
By the rivers of Babylon-- there we sat down and there we wept when we
remembered Zion… For there our captors asked us for songs … "Sing us one
of the songs of Zion!" How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign
land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither!
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.
Happy
anniversary to all priests ordained today and all who are celebrating theirs this
very week. Mary, mother of priests, pray for us.
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