Assumption of Mary August 15, 2023
Fr. Alexander Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
Up, up, up. If we wanted to distill the entirety of this Festival to a single word, it would be “up.” The Assumption celebrates when Mary was taken up into heaven, but that direction, that movement didn’t start at the end of her life. Indeed, it began over a thousand years before.
King David, anointed by Samuel the prophet and successor to Saul as king of Israel, set out to properly establish and rule the kingdom given him by God. He conquered Jerusalem and made it the capital city of God’s chosen people. Recognizing that it was all by God’s power, he set out to bring the ark of the covenant into the city of Jerusalem. But David acted too rashly. He did not use Levites to transport the ark as God had commanded in the covenant. So, when one of them touched the ark, he died for his violation of the law of God.
Terrified, King David left the ark where it was at the home of Obed-edom the Gittite. Yet, the ark was still the sign of God’s presence on earth. So, Obed-edom’s home and family were blessed by the presence of the ark. Seeing this and all God’s goodness, David tried again to bring the ark into Jerusalem. This time, he uses the Levites and offers sacrifices as the ark is brought up into Jerusalem with the blast of trumpets and sounds of great joy.
Then we see when Mary is told of her unique role in God’s plan: to be the mother of the son of God. She was to be the new ark of the covenant, carrying Jesus the Word of God and the Bread from Heaven in her womb as the ark once carried the Ten Commandments and the Manna. Upon learning of her cousin’s pregnancy, she rises up and goes up into the hill country to assist Elizabeth. When Mary arrives there, Elizabeth cries out in great joy. The Greek word used to describe that joyful sound is used in only two places in the entire bible. The first was when David brought the Ark to Jerusalem and the second is here.
But this upward journey continues. Mary is indeed blessed to be the mother of Jesus, but it’s not the biology that makes her blessed. It is that she so perfectly heard the word of God and kept it that she literally gave birth to the Word of God. And as Jesus went about teaching and healing and establishing the Kingdom of Heaven, Mary was his greatest disciple. When the time came, she followed him up to Jerusalem and still further up the mountain of calvary to the place of his crucifixion.
When Jesus rose from the dead and commissioned his Apostles to evangelize the whole world, he then ascended into heaven, going up to the true dwelling place of God. Jerusalem had long been the symbol of heaven, but now Jesus the King and High Priest brought a human body into the true sanctuary of heaven itself. From that moment one, Mary’s heart and mind were continually drawn upward to where her Son, King, and Lord reigns forever.
That upward journey had one final step to be taken: the end of Mary’s life on earth. Just as the old ark of the covenant could not be left in the hands of rotten men, so the body of Mary, the new ark of the covenant, could not be left to rot in this fallen world. Now that the way to the New Jerusalem was opened, Mary’s body was brought with her soul into heaven where she lives and reign with her son for all eternity.
What is all this to us? An occasion of praise and a reminder of where we’re going. Praise God for the marvelous things he has done for us. Praise him for the love that has from the beginning prepared a way for to enter into eternal life despite the ravages of sin and death. Praise him for the providence that so aligned David, Jerusalem, and the Ark of the Covenant with Jesus, Mary, and Heaven. Praise him for bestowing such honor onto a human being. Mary, fully and only human, has been given such dignity as to live body and soul in heaven and to share in the glory of her divine son. Praise him because he intends the same for us.
Praise him, and take to heart this call: “up, up, up.” Our entire lives are meant to be an upward journey to that glory. Though our lives are not exactly like Mary’s, her example is still a model for us. Though we will not be assumed directly to heaven, we will one day be given back our bodies in the resurrection at the last day. And if, we like Mary, have heard the word of God and kept it… if we, like Mary, have set our hearts and minds on the King of Heaven, then those bodies will be glorious and eternal, sharing the dignity already enjoyed by Jesus and his mother.
So, be glad this Holy Day interrupts the normal routine. Be glad it calls you to take a moment to look up from earthly responsibilities to remember that ultimate purpose. Remember every day to look up, not literally, but in the innermost intentions of your heart. Look up in regular prayer. Offer up your work, rest, joy, and sorrow in spiritual sacrifice through the Mass. Move up through a continuous effort to turn from sin and grow in virtue, the virtue of love most of all. Go up! Jesus and Mary have gone before us, as have so many great and small. Remember what God has done for Mary, praise him, and follow after… up, up, up…