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| The Assumption of Mary by Paolo Veronese (Caliari) |
Happy Feast Day!
by Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.
Like every doctrine of faith, Mary's Assumption into
heaven body and soul is about us too.
Mary is our model in faith, charity, and perfect union with Christ. She teaches us how to live in a faith-filled and loving
way.
Mary's Assumption teaches us how to live with hope even
in dying, how to anticipate our eternal destiny. The Solemnity of the Assumption, observed on
August 15, celebrates the completion of Mary's transformation by the Holy
Spirit, being taken to heaven not only in soul but also in body.
Mary's Assumption brings us hope because it reminds us
that what happened to Mary is our destiny too.
The Preface of the Mass declares that the Assumption is "the
beginning and the image of Your Church's coming to perfection and a sign of
sure hope and comfort for Your people."
We are the Church.
Mary's bodily assumption is a harbinger of what will happen to us. What God has done for Mary gives us hope and
comfort in what He will do for us.
St. Paul reminds us that even in this life believers are
already being transformed into the image of Christ. "All of us, gazing with unveiled face on
the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to
glory as from the Lord who is Spirit" (2Cor 3:18). This transformation affects not only our
souls but also our bodies. "...we
groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies"
(Rom 8:23). Our bodies will be conformed
to the body of Christ. "He will
change our lowly body to conform with his glorious body by the power that
enables Him also to bring all things into subjection to Himself" (Phil
3:21). This transformation results from
Jesus' victory over the power of sin and death in His own death and
Resurrection.
The opening prayer for the August 15 Eucharistic Liturgy
asks that "always attentive to the things that are above, we may merit to
be sharers of her glory." Living in
tune with God as Mary did, we will also undergo the transformation of both our
souls and our bodies.
The post communion prayer requests that "through the
intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom you assumed into heaven, we may
be brought to the glory of the Resurrection."
When celebrating the Solemnity of Mary's Assumption in
2010 Pope Benedict XVI offered this clear description in his homily. "...the Mother of God is inserted to
such a degree in the mystery of Christ that she shares in the resurrection of
her Son with her whole being already at the end her life, she lives what we
hope for at the end of time...."
While admiring Mary in her glorious destiny, we are
invited to recognize that the loving Lord has willed for our final destiny to
live through faith in perfect union with him.
Our predecessors in faith professed their firm hope in
"the resurrection of the body" in the Apostles Creed and in the
Nicene Creed. We rarely think about the
resurrection of our bodies. Yet this article
of faith greatly encourages us, comforts us at the death of loved ones, and raises
our awareness of the value of our bodies.
The Assumption of Mary vividly reminds us that our lives
have a special destiny with God.
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