Feast of the Assumption of Mary

IF YOU WERE TO GO TO A SUNDAY SERVICE AT FIRST CHURCH DOWN THE STREET, IT WOULD CONSIST OF MUSIC, READING OF SCRIPTURES, A FAIRLY LONG SERMON, AND MAYBE ONCE A MONTH A EUCHARISTIC SERVICE. IF YOU WERE TO PARTAKE OF THE BREAD AND WINE, YOU WOULD COME TO THE TABLE AND TAKE IT IN YOUR OWN HANDS AND CONSUME IT. THE UNDERSTANDING YOU WOULD HAVE WOULD BE THAT THIS CEREMONY IS A SYMBOL, BUT ONLY A SYMBOL. SINCE IT IS ONLY A SYMBOL, IT CAN BE DONE IN DIFFERENT WAYS, AND ANYONE CAN TAKE PART IN IT. THE SUNDAY SERVICE THAT OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN FIRST CHURCH PARTICIPATE IN IS A SERVICE DESIGNED FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE CONGREGATION; THE PURPOSE IS TO HELP THEM BECOME MORE MORAL INDIVIDUALS, TO GAIN DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SCRIPTURES, AND TO BE UPLIFTED BY THE MUSIC SO THAT THEY CAN HAVE SOME SENSE OF THE DIVINE, OF GOD'S PRESENCE. ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE PRAISEWORTHY GOALS.
BUT WHEN YOU GO TO A CATHOLIC SUNDAY SERVICE, IF IT IS DONE WITH REVERENCE AND IF THE CONGREGATION TRULY UNDERSTANDS WHAT IS GOING ON, THE SERVICE IS NOT FOR THE PEOPLE, IT IS A SERVICE OF WORSHIP, OF PRAISE, OF ADORATION, A SERVICE FOR GOD. AS SUCH IT BECOMES SACRED, AND IF IT IS SACRED, THEN EVERY GESTURE, EVERY WORD BECOMES IMPORTANT, AND WE UNDERSTAND THE BREAD AND WINE TO BECOME THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN OUR VERY MIDST, THE BREAD AND WINE BECOME THE FLESH AND BLOOD OF JESUS – NOT IN SYMBOL, BUT IN REALITY. SO IT IS NOT IMPORTANT THAT THE HOMILY BE BRILLIANT; IT IS NOT IMPORTANT THAT THE PEOPLE ARE EDIFIED OR UPLIFTED; IT IS NOT EVEN IMPORTANT THAT THE PEOPLE CARRY AWAY A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OR A GREATER COMMITMENT TO BEHAVIOR PLEASING TO GOD; THESE ARE ALL GOOD THINGS, AND AS HUMAN BEINGS, WE HOPE THEY COME ABOUT; BUT WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS THAT GOD BE GLORIFIED, AND THAT IS THE MAIN CENTRAL PURPOSE OF THE MASS AND THAT IS THE REASON JESUS HIMSELF GAVE FOR COMING TO THE WORLD, THAT THE FATHER BE GLORIFIED.
TODAY IS THE FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION OF MARY, THE DAY WE CELEBRATE THE DOGMA THAT MARY DID NOT EXPERIENCE CORRUPTION AFTER HER DEATH, BUT WAS TAKEN BODY AND SOUL INTO HEAVEN. THERE ARE NO RELICS OF MARY; THERE CAN'T BE; HER BODY IS WHERE ALL OUR BODIES WILL BE AT THE END OF TIME, AFTER THE GENERAL RESURRECTION OF THE FAITHFUL. SHE HAS GONE WHERE WE WILL SOMEDAY GO. WE DON'T KNOW WHERE, WE DON'T KNOW HOW, BUT WE DO KNOW THAT IT WILL HAPPEN. THE SCRIPTURES SPEAK OF IT, AND THE CHURCH PROCLAIMS IT, AND THE FEAST DAY WE CELEBRATE REMINDS US OF IT. ARE THERE OTHER BODIES IN HEAVEN? PROBABLY. OBVIOUSLY, JESUS IS THERE. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, ELIJAH WAS TAKEN UP INTO HEAVEN IN A FLAMING CHARIOT. IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS WE READ OF A MAN NAMED ENOCH WHO ALSO SEEMS TO HAVE ENTERED HEAVEN WITHOUT THE SEPARATION OF BODY FROM SOUL. THE CHURCH DOES NOT SAY THAT MARY IS THE ONLY ONE WHOSE BODY IS IN HEAVEN. BUT THE CHURCH SAYS THAT THIS IS A MATTER OF DOCTRINE FOR US TO BELIEVE THAT SHE IS IN HEAVEN, BODY AND SOUL.
SO WHY? WHY SHOULD WE BELIEVE THAT MARY WAS TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN BODY AND SOUL? WE CAN FIGURE THAT OUT. SHE WAS FREE FROM ORIGINAL SIN, SO SHE WAS NOT SUBJECT TO THE CORRUPTION AND DEATH THAT IS THE LOT OF HUMAN BEINGS. SHE WAS THE MOTHER OF GOD, SO IT MAKES PERFECTLY GOOD SENSE THAT IF JESUS INTENDED FOR HIS FOLLOWERS TO JOIN HIM IN HEAVEN BODY AND SOUL, AND THAT IS THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN BE A COMPLETE HUMAN BEING, HE WOULD ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN TO HIS SINLESS MOTHER A LITTLE BIT AHEAD OF TIME; WOULDN'T YOU DO THIS FOR YOUR MOTHER IF YOU COULD? AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, WE SEE IN THIS MYSTERY A PROMISE MADE TO US, THAT IF JESUS CAN RAISE HIMSELF, AND IF HE CAN RAISE HIS MOTHER, WELL, HE CAN RAISE US.
BUT THERE IS ANOTHER PART TO THIS. IN MARY'S SONG THAT WE HEAR TODAY, SHE SAYS, “MY SOUL PROCLAIMS THE GLORY OF THE LORD, MY SPIRIT REJOICES IN GOD MY SAVIOR.” THE ONLY THING MARY EVERY WANTED TO DO IN LIFE WAS TO GLORIFY GOD, TO REJOICE IN HIM, TO REVEL IN THE FACT THAT HE WAS THE SAVIOR OF ISRAEL, THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD, HER OWN PERSONAL SAVIOR. HER SONG TELLS US THAT THIS WAS WHY SHE LIVED, THIS WAS THE PRINCIPLE THAT GOVERNED HER WHOLE LIFE. MARY WAS TOTALLY OTHER-CENTERED; SHE WAS THE EMBODIMENT OF THE STATEMENT BY JOHN THE BAPTIST -- “HE MUST INCREASE, I MUST DECREASE.” IF YOU HAD ASKED MARY WHAT SHE WANTED TO DO WITH HER LIFE, SHE WOULD NOT HAVE UNDERSTOOD THE QUESTION. THE WHOLE REASON SHE EXISTED, SHE KNEW, WAS TO GLORIFY GOD, TO REJOICE IN GOD. NOTHING ELSE MATTERED.
WE ENLIGHTENED WESTERNERS HAVE A VERY HARD TIME WITH THIS. EVEN THE MOST DEVOUT AMONG US HAVE A HARD TIME, GIVEN OUR BACKGROUND AND UPBRINGING, TO GRASP THIS CONCEPT. EVEN IN DEEPEST PRAYER, IT IS STILL, “DO SOMETHING FOR ME, GOD.” EVEN WHEN WE COME TO MASS WE SAY TO OURSELVES, “THAT SERMON WASN'T VERY GOOD, THAT PRIEST WASN'T AS REVERENT AS I WOULD HAVE LIKED, THAT MASS WENT ON TOO LONG, OR DIDN'T LAST LONG ENOUGH; THAT MUSIC WAS JUST NOT UP TO PAR.” AND WE GO OUT SAYING “THAT MASS REALLY DID SOMETHING FOR ME, OR THAT MASS WAS A WASTE OF MY TIME.”
BUT WHEN WE CONTEMPLATE THE ASSUMPTION, WHEN WE LISTEN CAREFULLY TO THE WORDS OF MARY'S SONG, WE REALIZE THAT THOSE THOUGHTS ARE ENTIRELY OFF THE MARK. GOD IS NOT FOR US, WE ARE FOR GOD. AND IF WE THINK OTHERWISE, THEN WE HAVE A FALSE IDEA OF REALITY, AND WHEN WE HAVE A FALSE IDEA OF REALITY, WE ARE BASICALLY PSYCHOTIC, SCHIZOPHRENIC.
MARY WAS THE MOST LEVEL-HEADED, THE MOST SANE OF PEOPLE. SHE DID NOT HAVE EVEN A THOUGHT THAT WAS NOT A TRUE REFLECTION OF REALITY. SHE KNEW TRUTH, UNCLOUDED BY FALSEHOOD. AND SHE KNEW THAT GOD WAS TO BE GLORIFIED, GOD WAS TO BE REJOICED IN. THAT WAS THE ROLE OF THE CREATURE.
AND THAT IS WHY WE COME TO MASS – SIMPLY TO GLORIFY GOD AND REJOICE IN HIS SAVING OF US. IF WE WANT TO LEARN, IF WE WANT TO BE EDIFIED, IF WE WANT TO HEAR BEAUTIFUL MUSIC, IF WE WANT TO HEAR POWERFUL SERMONS – NONE OF THOSE ARE REASONS TO COME TO HOLY MASS. THE ONLY REASON IS THAT IN THIS RITUAL GIVEN BY JESUS TO HIS APOSTLES 2000 YEARS AGO, WE GLORIFY GOD AND WE REJOICE THAT HE SAVES US. THAT IS HOW MARY LIVED HER LIFE, AND AS A RESULT, WAS ASSUMED INTO HEAVEN, BECAUSE SHE DID THIS PERFECTLY. AND ON THIS FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION. WE NEED TO ASK OURSELVES WHETHER THIS IS OUR UNDERSTANDING AS WELL, AS TO WHY WE WORSHIP. BECAUSE WE ARE HERE TO GLORIFY GOD, TO REJOICE IN HIS SAVING POWER. IF WE THINK OTHERWISE, WE HAD BETTER LISTEN TO OUR MOTHER MARY ONCE AGAIN.