Holy Assumption

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Tuesday, 15 August 2023 : Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 1 : 39-56

Mary then set out for a town in the hill country of Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in her womb.

Elizabeth was filled with Holy Spirit, and giving a loud cry, said, “You are most blessed among women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb! How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me suddenly leapt for joy. Blessed are you who believed that the Lord’s word would come true!”

And Mary said, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God my Saviour! He has looked upon His servant in her lowliness, and people forever will call me blessed.”

“The Mighty One has done great things for me, Holy is His Name! From age to age His mercy extends to those who live in His presence. He has acted with power and done wonders, and scattered the proud with their plans. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and lifted up those who are downtrodden. He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.”

“He held out His hand to Israel, His servant, for He remembered His mercy, even as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.”

Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months, and then returned home.

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Tuesday, 15 August 2023 : Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Corinthians 15 : 20-27

But no, Christ has been raised from the dead, and He comes before all those who have fallen asleep. A human being brought death; a Human Being also brings resurrection of the dead. For, as in Adam all die, so, in Christ, all will be made alive. However, each one in his own time : first Christ, then Christ’s people, when He comes.

Then, the end will come, when Christ delivers the kingdom to God the Father, after having destroyed every rule, authority and power. For He must reign and put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed will be death. As Scripture says : God has subjected everything under His feet.

When we say that everything is put under His feet, we exclude, of course, the Father, Who subjects everything to Him. As Scripture says : God has subjected everything under His feet. When we say that everything is put under His feet, we exclude, of course, the Father, Who subjects everything to Him.

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Tuesday, 15 August 2023 : Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 44 : 10bc, 11, 12ab, 16

At your right hand, in gold of Ophir, stands the queen.

Listen, o daughter, pay attention; forget your father’s house and your nation.

And your beauty will charm the King, for He is your Lord.

Amid cheers and general rejoicing, they enter the palace of the King.

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Monday, 14 August 2023 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this evening we celebrate the Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as we prepare for the celebration of the great moment when Mary, the Mother of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, was assumed body and soul, in her whole being into the glory of Heaven. This event marked the end of Mary’s presence in this world, and is a truly significant one because it reminds us, just as the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord had reminded us of the future that all of us ought to look forward to, in our own transfiguration when we shall exist with the Lord in glory, in our own transfigured bodies, thus, Mary’s Assumption into Heaven affirmed this hope we have, in the promises of salvation and eternal life which the Lord had given to all of us.

Mary’s Assumption is often confused with the Ascension of the Lord because both seems to involve the same events, but in reality, if we look deeper and more carefully into it, we will realise that both are different from each other because Mary’s Assumption into Heaven was done by the power of God, Who raised His mother Mary, body and soul from this world and lifted her up to assume her place in Heaven, while the Lord Ascended by His own power and will, to assume His rightful place in Heaven. There we can see a very clear distinction, of how Mary, while she is indeed the Mother of God and the greatest of all saints, but fundamentally she is still a human being, unlike her Son, Jesus Christ, Who is both fully Man and fully Divine, the Divine Son of God Incarnate.

Nonetheless, Mary is honoured above all other beings because she is truly the greatest among all those that God had created. The Lord created Mary and prepared her specially for the purpose of bearing the Messiah, or the Saviour of the world in her, which in this case would be His own begotten Son, the Divine Son of God Who was clad in the flesh and nature of Man that He might come and dwell in our midst. Mary was to be the one to bear this Man-Divine being in her, bearing her Son for nine months of pregnancy just like any other mothers, but with the exception that she had no one but the Holy Spirit through Whom, the Lord was Incarnate in the flesh, and becoming existent, conceived within her holy womb. This is why Mary is also known as the Ark of the Covenant, the New Covenant that God has established with us, His beloved people.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Chronicles of Israel and Judah, we heard of how the famous King David of Israel brought the great Ark of the Covenant from its place in the Holy Tent of Meeting into the city of Jerusalem, to enter into the city where God would dwell among His chosen people. This original Ark of the Covenant refers to the Ark and container built by Moses during the time of the Exodus to bear the Law of God in the Ten Commandments, the Staff of Aaron representing the authority and power of God, and the manna, the miraculous bread from Heaven by which God fed His people during their time in the desert. This Ark of the Covenant was where God’s Presence would come down periodically to speak and reveal His will to Moses, and to the High Priests that He had appointed.

Now, in the case of Mary, her participation in bearing the Messiah Himself, the Son of God within her, is the reason why she is called the Ark of the New Covenant, hallowed, sanctified and made perfect by God, as we all believe that Mary was conceived without the taint and corruption of sin, in the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, one of the key tenets of the Church teachings. Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because like the original Ark, which was made from the most precious materials available to mankind, hallowed and sanctified by God, and which was so holy that no one could touch the original Ark, and one who touched the Ark by accident was struck dead, hence, the Ark of the New Covenant of God, Mary herself, was also made special, holy and immaculate for this purpose.

This is because God is all perfect and good, and sin, imperfections and evil have no place before Him. Therefore, Mary as the New Ark prepared for the New Covenant of God, was made perfect and all good by the Lord, and according to our core beliefs and Church teachings, Mary was also full of grace, as the Archangel Gabriel himself said when he greeted Mary at the Annunciation, which means that not only Mary was free from the taint of original sin, but throughout her life, she remained fully attuned to the Lord and is full of His grace, meaning that she has not done things that were in disobedience of God and His Law and commandments, and consequently, remained pure and immaculate, without sin and evil, unlike the rest of us. If we wonder if such thing is possible, then let us remind ourselves that God is all powerful, Almighty, and everything is possible for Him, even in things that we may think is impossible to happen.

Therefore, if Mary has been conceived without the taint of sin, and remains free from sin throughout her whole life, to the moment when she met the end of her earthly existence, how can sin and death then claim her just like any one of us? First of all, we must realise that death is a consequence of sin, which itself is due to our disobedience against God’s will, in doing what is against His ways and against His Law. Hence, that is why every man and woman since Adam and Eve had encountered death at the end of their earthly lives, because they all have sinned against God. And until the time when Christ came into our world and release us from the bondage to this original sin, the sin of Adam and Eve, all of our predecessors before the time of Christ were bound by that original sin, and by their own sins borne out of their disobedience.

Then, for all of us here today, even though Christ has already come and given us all His salvation and freed us from the bondage to sin and death, but we are still vulnerable to sin, because there are times again and again when we are tempted and drawn towards the path of sin and evil, and at least on few if not more occasions, we succumbed to those temptations and sinned against God. It is for these sins that we encounter death. However, death is not our final fate, because God has assured all of us that there is life and existence beyond death, which He showed us through His Resurrection, and His own Mother’s Assumption into Heaven is a proof of that. And this Assumption again, was what happened to Mary rightly because of her special circumstances.

Therefore, there are two main schools of thought in which some believed that Mary was assumed or taken up body and soul into Heaven without experiencing any death at all, and hence, entered into the glory of Heaven directly because if she had not been corrupted at all by sin, and remained free of sin and is full of God’s grace, then death itself has no power at all over her, and death should not have claimed her at all. The other school of thought teaches that Mary did encounter death, not because that death is a punishment for sin, as she was free from sin and is full of God’s grace, but because of her intense love for her Son, and in her death, she shared in her Son’s own death and Resurrection. However, Mary did not remain in that state of death, which according to the Apostolic tradition, in what is known as the Dormition, came like that of deep sleep for her, and the Lord then assumed her into Heaven, to enter into the glory that had been prepared for her by her own Son.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, regardless in whatever circumstances and what really happened to Mary, the Mother of God, and our loving Mother, on whether she actually experienced death or not, what we all know now for sure is that, Mary is now in Heaven, by the side of her beloved Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. And through her, we see a glimpse of what we will ourselves experience in the end. While we may not immediately experience the glory of Heaven, unlike Mary and the other saints whose lives were worthy enough to enter immediately into the glory prepared for them, but all of us who have been faithful to the Lord and kept ourselves away from mortal sins, we are all assured of salvation and eternal life in God. In the end of days, we shall be reunited completely with God, as our bodies and souls shall be reunited with God, together in our new, transfigured bodies, just as the Lord’s Transfiguration also assured us earlier on this month.

And in Mary, we also have a great and most powerful ally and helper, as she is our most dedicated intercessor, together with that of the other saints, in constantly praying for our sake, for us sinners who are still toiling and labouring in this world. Mary has been entrusted by Christ Himself to be our own Mother, and we have been entrusted to her to be like her own children. Naturally, she will always look out for us and pray for us, no? That also explains why she has made so many Apparitions, many of which had been officially approved by the Church, in trying to reach out to us and to remind us to be faithful to the Lord, so that we may not continue to live in the state of sin, and will strive to reject sin and its evils, and return once again to God with all of our heart.

Let us also look upon Mary as our role model in life, as the Lord Himself said in our Gospel passage today, that ‘Truly blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it as well.’ which is in fact the Lord praising His own Mother as Mary had always followed the Lord and dedicated her whole life to God, keeping herself in state of perfect harmony with God. We are all reminded as Christians, as God’s people, as His disciples and chosen ones, that each and every one of us should do our very best to live lives that are truly virtuous and good, in accordance to the Law and the commandments that the Lord Himself has shown us. We must not allow ourselves to be swayed by the temptations of worldly pleasures and the allures of sin, and we should inspire one another to remain truly faithful and obedient to God in all things.

Mary, our most beloved Mother, assumed in glory into Heaven, intercede for us all sinners, your children, who always look up to you with hope, seeing that in you, we can see the reflection of your Son, Our Lord and Saviour, in Whom we put our full trust and faith, hoping that we will one day enter into the glory of Heaven together with you, and all the glorious saints and holy martyrs. Pray for us sinners, o Holy Mother of God, and may your Son continue to show us His mercy, compassion and love. Amen.

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Monday, 14 August 2023 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 11 : 27-28

At that time, as Jesus was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to Him, “Blessed is the one who gave You birth and nursed You!”

Jesus replied, “Truly blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it as well.”

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Monday, 14 August 2023 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Corinthians 15 : 54b-57

When our mortal being puts on immortality, the word of Scripture will be fulfilled : Death has been swallowed up by victory. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?

Sin is the sting of death, to kill, and the Law is what gives force to sin. But give thanks to God, Who gives us the victory, through Christ Jesus, our Lord.

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Monday, 14 August 2023 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 131 : 6-7, 9-10, 13-14

Then came the news, “The Ark is in Ephrata, we found it in the fields of Jaar.” Let us go to where He dwells and worship at His footstool!

May Your priests be arrayed in glorious mantle; may Your faithful ones shout in gladness. For the sake of Your servant, David, do not turn away the face of Your Anointed.

For YHVH has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling : “This is My resting place forever; this I prefer; here, will I dwell.”

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Monday, 14 August 2023 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Chronicles 15 : 3-4, 15-16 and 1 Chronicles 16 : 1-2

Then David gathered all Israel together in Jerusalem to bring the Ark of God up to the place he had prepared for it. David called together the sons of Aaron and the sons of Levi. And the Levites carried the Ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had ordered according to the command of YHVH.

David then told the leaders of the Levites to assign duties for some Levites to sing and play a joyful tune with their various musical instruments : harps and lyres and cymbals. They brought the Ark of God in and put it inside the tent that David had prepared for it; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to God.

And when David had finished offering the sacrifices, he blessed the people in the Name of YHVH.

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Sunday, 15 August 2021 : Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday is truly a special occasion for all of us, as not only that we celebrate the Sunday of the Lord, but by coincidence on this fifteenth day of August, as is every year, we also celebrate the great Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which marks the moment when Mary, the Holy Mother of God was ‘assumed’ into the glory of Heaven, body and soul, and therefore, in some way, did not suffer fully the embrace of death, by the unique singular grace of God, her Son, Our Lord and Saviour.

This Dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the four important Dogmas or core tenets of the faith with regards to Mary, together with the Dogma of the Theotokos or the Divine Motherhood of Mary, the Dogma of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary and finally the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is an affirmation of the long-held belief of the Church since the earliest times, declared official by Pope Pius XII in the year of Our Lord 1950, in his. ‘Ex Cathedra’ proclamation and the Papal Bull Munificentissimus Deus.

First of all, the Assumption is not equivalent to the Ascension of the Lord, as how some had misunderstood, thinking that we believe in Mary’s ‘Ascension’ into heaven. The Ascension of the Lord refers to how the Lord Jesus ascended by His own power and might, to sit on His Throne in Heaven, returning from where He had come from, and to prepare the place for us all, the faithful people of God. Meanwhile, the Assumption refers to the moment when Mary, by the grace and the power of God, was taken up into Heaven, not on her own accord.

There lies the difference between Our Lord’s Ascension and His mother’s Assumption, a difference that seems to be minute and yet, very important, lest we misunderstand them and like for some, causing them to have the wrong impression and idea about the true Christian faith, especially among some of our separated brethren, who held wrong ideas and false perception of what the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In the same manner, all of us also must know what the Assumption is all about and how significant it is to our faith. Many among us Christians are still having misconceptions about our own faith, having misunderstandings and doing the wrong practices, and showing the wrong identity of the faith, with regards to our devotion to Mary and the other saints. That is why we have to understand clearly what the Assumption is all about, that we may indeed become genuine witnesses of our faith to many others.

Mary has been chosen by God to be the special Vessel and to be the New Ark, of the New Covenant between God and all of us. As such, she has been given the special grace of being conceived without the taint of original sin, which we celebrate as the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, as the pure and immaculate Vessel, conceived and then born without sin or any subjugation to it, free from its influences unlike that of any other human beings, save that of her own Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour.

Therefore, having been so prepared to be the New Ark of the New Covenant, far better than the old Ark, which was sacrosanct and holy, therefore, Mary, who bore in her womb, the Lord and Saviour Himself, ought not to have been subjected to the punishment and suffering of death. Why is that so? That is because death is the punishment and consequence of sin, and if Mary had not been tainted or corrupted by sin, then death has no hold over her at all.

Yet, with regards to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, also known in the Eastern Church traditions as the Dormition of the Theotokos, there are two main schools of thoughts regarding what actually happened at the moment of the Assumption. One stated that since Mary as the one who had been free from the taint of sin and as the Mother of the Saviour of all, then she must have completely been free from death, and therefore, was raised up into heavenly glory, in body and soul, that she entered Heaven and is no longer in the world.

Then, another school of thought stated that Mary did go through death, just like any others, because she shared in her Son’s Passion and death, and she died just as her Son also died, but not because of a punishment for her own sins. Therefore, that death was merely symbolic and in the end, whether she died or went into the sleep of death as per the Eastern tradition of the Dormition of the Theotokos, Mary went body and soul up into Heaven. Hence, regardless whether she actually died, went through death or any experience of death, Mary is now in Heaven, and that is what truly matters.

Then, brothers and sisters in Christ, how is this crucial for us? How is it important for us to appreciate this celebration of the Assumption of Mary, the Blessed ever-Virgin Mother of God? Mary’s Assumption into Heaven first of all is an assurance for us that we have someone who is always ever constantly praying for us, and who intercedes for us directly beside the Throne of her Son. For Mary is indeed the greatest of all the saints, and the one closest to Our Lord Himself, as is she not His mother? Just like the occasion of the miracle of the wedding at Cana, even the Lord would still listen to the words of His loving mother.

And that is not all, brothers and sisters in Christ, for in the Assumption of Mary, we also see the promise of new life and existence that we ourselves are going to experience in the time to come, as we will also be raised to Heaven, body and soul, at the end of time, when the final judgment comes, and our souls shall be reunited fully with our bodies, glorified, purified and blessed, that we may enjoy forever, with Mary, and with all the saints, the glory and true joy of Heaven with God forevermore.

Through the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God, all of us are called to examine our own lives, and how we have lived them thus far. Have we been truly faithful to God in all things? Or have we instead allowed the temptations and the allures of worldly pleasures to distract us and mislead us down the wrong path? These are just some of things and questions that we should consider carefully, as we celebrate this great Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, being reminded that if we sin, and do not repent from those sins, then death is the consequence, and there can be nothing worse than to be judged to eternal death and suffering.

Let us all therefore aspire to reject the path of sinfulness and evil, rejecting wickedness and disobedient attitudes in life. Instead, let us all look upon Mary, our loving mother and inspiration, that we may be more like her in faith, dedication and love for God, and be righteous in all of our dealings and actions. We are all called to be role models ourselves, and to be faithful and good witnesses of our Christian beliefs and faith in the midst of our respective communities.

Are we willing and able to do that, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is something that each and every one of us are certainly capable of doing, but more often than not we did not do so because we spent more time on worldly pursuits and in satisfying our personal desires, that we could not even spare a thought or effort to commit ourselves sincerely and with conviction. Hence, this Sunday, as we celebrate this great occasion of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us all remind ourselves to be ever more committed to the Lord, and to do our very best to follow the Lord and to serve Him, and to live faithfully in accordance to His will from now on.

May the Lord bless us all and remain with us throughout this journey of life, and may His blessed mother, Mary, who has been assumed, body and soul, into the glory of Heaven, continue to intercede for us sinners, and be our constant source of strength and inspiration in how we live our lives as Christians from now on. Holy Mary, Mother of God, assumed into Heaven, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.