“So today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven. There’s categories of how our days are hierarchically categorized. Solemnities are the greatest of celebrations. All Sunday are solemnities and then all these great feasts like the Assumption. Then they go feast days then memorial days and then optional memorial days and so on, so today is a great solemnity that happens to fall on Sunday and it’s about Mary. Growing up I always wondered, ‘What is it about Mary? Why is this feast, this solemnity so important that Mary was assumed into Heaven and where does it say that in the Bible that Mary was assumed into Heaven? Today in this homily I’m going to try to point out to you where this all comes from, but in light of that we have to look at first, Jesus and Mary. Everything about Mary always is pointing to Jesus and the great image I always like to see and it helps me is looking at the sun and the moon. The sun shines brightly in the day, but at night the sun goes behind and the moon is there, but where does the moon get it’s light? Why does the moon illuminate? It’s the reflection of the light of the sun. The reason the moon shines is all because of the sun’s light, so it really just gives glory to the sun. All the power, all the light actually comes from the sun and the same thing is true with Jesus and Mary that when we look at Mary it always points us back to Jesus and the glory of God. Now to look at the scriptures you have to look at also in the full context, so some people might say, ‘Where is this in the scripture?’ It doesn’t say it explicitly in scripture, but you have to read scripture in its full context. That means looking at the Old Testament. Everything in the Old Testament prefigures what happens in the New Testament and everything in the New Testament fulfills what happens in the Old, so when we look at scripture we always have to look at it in light of each other, the Old and the New, the New and the Old. That’s why at every Mass the first reading is generally from the Old Testament, we have a response Psalm and then we usually have a reading from the New Testament in the second reading and then the Gospel. So, how to understand the Assumption we have to look at Jesus. There’s three points that I would like to make: that Jesus is these new images from the Old Testament.
The first point is Jesus is the new Adam. In the Old Testament, because of Adam sin entered the world and we inherited original sin, so in the second reading today it talks about that because one man sinned, sin entered the world and we’re all bound to die, but in Jesus Christ because one man has risen from the dead, now it opens the gates of Heaven for each one of us that the old Adam, again had sin entered the world, but in this new Adam which is Jesus, sin is dispersed and new life is given to us, so the first image is Jesus as the new Adam.
The second image is Jesus as the new Moses. Moses is the image in the Old Testament that freed the Isarelites from the Egyptians and it’s through the Passover that the Israelites are freed into the desert. They journey in the desert 40 years to the promised land and now Jesus is here to free us from our sins. In a lot of ways we are shackled by our sins in our own lives. To free us from that and now we journey not 40 years per se, but through the sacraments he nurtures and sustains us through our journey, this pilgrimage of life, to the promised land not the Earthly land, but the Heavenly land which is the new Jerusalem. So Jesus as the new Adam, Jesus as the new Moses and the third image is Jesus as the new king.
In the Old Testament, the famous king is King David, established the kingdom for Israel and then his son Solomon bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalmen to reign and so the Jewish people are always looking for a king to reign. We even celebrate a feast that’s Christ the King. Not an Earthly kingdom, but a Heavenly kingdom, so these are the three images of Jesus, but now where does Mary come into play? Where does Mary come into play here?
If Jesus is the new Adam, then what about Eve, the mother of all that sin entered the world? Now Mary is the new Eve in the New Testament that through Jesus and through Mary’s participation in the salvation of the world that we are all saved, so from the first woman and man sin entered the world and we die because of our sins. Because of sin, death enters the world. The new Adam and new Eve which is Jesus and Mary, now we have a new life, a new life in Christ. Now with Moses, Moses was an image of God’s presence to the Israelite people, but not only that, the image to the Israelite people was the Ark of the Covenant that they carried along. They build a tent and they carried the Ark of the Covenant. What was in this ark? It was the staff of Aaron. It was the Ten Commandments and then there was the manna that came down from Heaven. They placed all these items in the Ark. The Ark was kind of like our tabernacle as God’s presence. Now Jesus, if Jesus is the new Moses bringing his people the new Passover out of slavery, Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant, the new Ark. In our first reading today in Revelation the writer is John and what does John say in the revelation? He says, ‘I see the Ark of the Covenant.’ and now for all the Jewish people they’re ears are attentive. Why? Because the Ark of the Covenant has been missing for five centuries when they were invaded and the exile happened the Ark of the Covenant was missing so the Jewish people were always searching for the Ark of the Covenant and now John is saying, ‘I see the Ark of the Covenant.’ in his revelation, but he doesn’t describe a box. What does he describe? The Ark of the Covenant, this woman, this woman who is pregnant who is standing before all, has twelve stars as a crown. The Ark of the Covenant is Mary for if the Ark of the Covenant was God’s presence before the Israelite people, then what more than Mary have the Word of God, Jesus incarnate, in her womb as the new Ark of the Covenant and in the Gospel today she travels to Judea and so bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to the land of the people. And the last image is if Jesus is the king, the descendant of David and the king for his kingdom, then just like Solomon who’s built the big temple, it was always his mother, the queen mother always by his side guiding him, helping him and so too if Jesus is king of Heaven and Earth, then also too Mary. Mary would be there with him.
Today we celebrate the assumption into Heaven. Jesus Ascended into Heaven. The very namesake of our parish is ascension. When Jesus ascends into Heaven it’s by his own glory and power that he ascends into Heaven, but Mary is assumed. Now assumption, there’s a Latin word that I can’t remember (I know the meaning of it) it means to take up. So Mary was actually taken up not by her own glory, but by God’s grace and the glory of Jesus, assumed into Heaven. Mary was immaculately conceived meaning she didn’t have sin within her and it’s sin that corrupted the world. It’s sin that brought death and we were never supposed to die, so isn’t it right that the mother that carried Jesus who was immaculately conceived, did not have sin would not feel the pains of death, not feel the corruption of her body? Wouldn’t you think God would glorify her even more than to assume her into Heaven with him as queen of Heaven and Earth?
In today’s Gospel Mary goes to Elizabeth and John the Baptism in Elizabeth’s womb leaped with joy telling how grateful they are to be in the presence of Mary and Mary says her great Magnificat is giving all praise and glory to God. Again, everything with Mary always points back to Christ, always points back to God. Each one of us are supposed to feel the glory as much as Mary is. Her Magnificat is to give praise, to give thanks to God for all he has given us and so too each of us are called to have our own Magnificat in our own lives to see how God has worked his wonders in your life has saved you. Mary shows us if we say yes to God and we are open to participating in the salvation of the world, what great wonders, what great gifts God’s grace pours upon us that we’re not meant for this life here on Earth, but we’re meant for Heaven, body and soul one day. So on this great feast of the Assumption of Mary let us reflect on our own Magnificat, our own praise and glory to God for the great gifts he has given us in our life. Amen.”