Mary's Assumption points to our own eternal destiny

Assumption of our Lady 2017
Apocalypse 11:19; 12:1-6.10; 1 Corinthians 15:20-26; Luke 1:39-56
 
Dear brothers and sisters,

In the Apostolic Creed, we profess about Jesus: “He descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father”, and in the words of Saint Paul, in today’s second reading: “Christ has been raised from the dead as the first fruit of all who have fallen asleep.” He is “the resurrection and the life” and has made the same available for all who believe in him and belong to him. Obviously, this is especially the case for his mother, the Virgin Mary, whose Assumption into heaven we celebrate today.

We heard in the first reading from the book of the Apocalypse about a vision: “A great sign appeared in heaven; a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown” (Rev 12:1). The tradition has seen in this woman, both Mary and the Church as a whole. In fact, Mary represents the Church in person, bringing into world the living Son of God. That is why we call her “Mother of God”.

The vision in the last book of the Bible speaks about the woman who after the birth of the child “fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God” (Rev 12:6). She is preserved from the netherworld, “the red dragon” which tries to destroy her. It reminds us about the word of Jesus to Peter in Mathew 16, “You are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against it” (Mt 16:18). The vision in the book of the Revelation is an application of the Lord’s promise that “the netherworld, that is, the realm of death, will not prevail against it”, neither against Mary nor against the Church.

Today we celebrate Mary as “the Queen assumed into heaven”, crowned by her Son. In the Marian antiphon during the Easter season we pray to her joyfully with the words: “ Queen of heaven, rejoice, Alleluia, for he whom you did merit to bear, Alleluia, has risen as He said, Alleluia”. The Church firmly believes that the Virgin Mary already lives with body and soul in the new and eternal world. Consequently, the words in the Magnificat receive a new and deeper meaning: “The Almighty has done great things for me … He has shown the power of his arm … He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly”.

On the feast of the Assumption we are not only praising God for what he has done in and with Mary. Her Assumption regards our own journey. Because in the Assumption of our Lady we have the promise of our own future. Do we not profess in the Nicene Creed: “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come”, or in the words of the Apostolic Creed: “I believe in the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?”

It is true, that in the present life we experience that our body is mortal and subject to decay. We can feel it every day when we have pains or become sick. The Assumption of our Lady shows us that in the risen Christ a transformation of our body will happen, although we do not know yet how it will look like. In the Preface for the Dead we proclaim faithfully: “Indeed for your faithful, Lord, life is changed not ended, and, when this earthly dwelling turns to dust, an eternal dwelling is made ready for them in heaven.”

Three years ago (2014), Pope Francis visited Korea and preached on the feast of Assumption. He said: “In celebrating this feast, we join the Church throughout the world in looking to Mary as our Mother of Hope. Her song of praise reminds us that God never forgets his promise of mercy (cf. Lk 1:54-55). Mary is the one who is blessed because ‘she believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord’ (Lk 1:45) … The hope held out by the Gospel is the antidote to the spirit of despair that seems to grow like a cancer in societies which are outwardly affluent, yet often experience inner sadness and emptiness.”

Brothers and Sisters, that is why we pray confidently in the Salve Regina: “Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sights, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.” She is the warrantor that in Christ body and soul will be restored. Meanwhile we do our best to do our own “spiritual fitness training” for the day of the resurrection in a true Christian life. And when we experience daily our own weakness, let us pray with full confidence: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and in the hour of our death. Amen”