The Assumption - Meditation

4th Glorious Mystery - The Assumption of Mary into Heaven

I chose this image because it shows more clearly what we as Catholics believe regarding the assumption of our Blessed Mother into Heaven - that she was taken there by God's Will, she didn't ascend through her own power.

I have had conversations, if they can be called that, with non-Catholics who are determined to believe that the doctrine of the Assumption of Mary was invented by the Catholic Church as part of our "worship" of Mary.  I think they refer to Pope Pius XII, in Munificentissimus Deus (1950), who defined that Mary, "after the completion of her earthly life" (note the silence regarding her death), "was assumed body and soul into the glory of heaven."

One of the things I have had to answer concerns the death of Mary. Honestly, I don't know the answer to that, and as far as I know the Church has never stated one way or the other. My personal opinion is that Mary most likely died. I believe that she was then placed in a tomb, probably the same day.

The first Church writer to speak of Mary's being taken up into heaven by God is Saint Gregory of Tours (594). Other early sermons on the Feast of Mary's entry into heaven are those of Ps.-Modestus of Jerusalem (ca. 700). The current Feast Day of August 15th was formerly the Feast of the Dormition of Mary (the "falling asleep").

Saint Gregory of Tour said that it is inconceivable to think Mary's sinless body, likened to the Ark of the Covenant which was made of incorruptible wood, should decay in the grave. The Ark of the Covenant contained the words of God in the Ten Commandments He gave to Moses. Mary's body contained the Word made flesh. Catholics have regarded Mary as the Ark of the New Covenant since at least the 6th century. Even if, as Protestants believe, it is Jesus Who is the Ark of the New Covenant, 1 Chronicles 15:14 records that the persons who bore the ark were to be sanctified.

In my meditations, I often am brought back to the thought that God/Heaven exists outside of Time and Space. For God, the Creation of the World is happening NOW; the birth of Christ is happening NOW; the Crucifixion is happening NOW; and, of course, the death of each of us and the resurrection of our bodies is happening NOW!

Is it so inconceivable that Jesus would want His Mother's body to be spared the corruption of that flesh that surround and nourished Him before His birth? 

We speak much of the Love and Mercy of God these days, but His other attribute is that of Justice. His Justice is something that St Therese of Lisieux, a doctor of the Church, demanded of God, because she knew she would receive her "just rewards". St. Therese said that you get from God exactly what you desire from Him. I believe that after the Ascension of Jesus, Mary desired nothing so much as to be re-united with Her Beloved Son.

The Assumption is a sign of HOPE, that someday, through God's grace and our perseverance, we may also, by imitating the Blessed Mother's fidelity and obedience to God's will,  join with Her in giving glory to God.