Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today on the fifteenth day of August, all of us as the Church of God gather together to celebrate the occasion of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, commemorating the moment when Mary, the Mother of God, of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, was taken up body and soul into Heaven at the end of her earthly life at the time that God had appointed it. This celebration of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is also celebrated similarly as the Dormition of the Virgin Mother of God in the Eastern churches and traditions, both of which highlighted not just the importance of Mary in our Christian faith but also the role that she has played in the history of our salvation.

In the Dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, one of the Four Marian Dogmas and the latest of the four to the officially declared as a Dogma, by the Venerable Pope Pius XII in the Year of Our Lord 1950, the Church teaches that Mary, the Mother of God as mentioned was taken up body and soul into Heaven, although the exact manner of which how this was done was left into interpretations, of which there are two major interpretations. And although it was recently declared as a Dogma, it did not mean that the Church and the faithful had not believed in the Assumption of Mary earlier on. Instead, since the earliest days of the Church, as attested by the Apostolic accounts and traditions themselves, and passed onto the faithful people of God, the early Christians, they have all upheld that Mary did not remain in this earthly realm in her body, and there was indeed no tomb of Mary that existed, just like that of her Son, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who had risen from the dead and ascended into Heaven.

Now, in order to understand better the Assumption of Mary, let us first delve into our Scripture readings today. In our first reading today we heard from the Book of Revelations of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the great vision which the Apostle saw of the premonitions of the end times, of a great red dragon, the Dragon of the Apocalypse, representing Satan, the great enemy of all the faithful, and the ultimate obstacle in the path of the Church and all the faithful and holy people of God, in the spiritual struggles and battles that have always raged all around us, in our struggles against sin and darkness holding us back and bonded to the chains that kept us enslaved, refusing to let us all go free and to be truly beloved and filled with God’s grace.

In that vision, we also saw a Woman who was struggling and in labour, bearing a Child that was to judge all the nations, and how this Child was rescued from the clutches of the great red dragon to the presence of God Most High. This vision is of great symbolism, both a reference to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God herself, who had borne within her, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, the King of Kings, and at the same time also referring to the Church, the Holy Mother Church, through which the Saviour was indeed brought into this world, manifesting the salvation of God through Christ Who has established His Church in this world, opening the sure and certain path to Heaven and eternal life, and breaking free forever the dominion and power of Satan and all of his fellow wicked forces all around us.

Then, from our second reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Corinth, we heard again the comparison of Our Lord Jesus, Our Saviour with Adam, the first man that God had created. And indeed, Christ is the New Adam, the One Who would correct everything which the first and old Adam had brought upon us, into ruin and destruction by his disobedience and sins. And Christ as the Son of Man united His humanity with ours, leading us all mankind into the path of redemption and reconciliation with God. Through Christ and His triumphant victory over sin and death, by His Passion, His sufferings and death on the Cross, and ultimately by His glorious Resurrection, He has assured and shown us all that sin and death will not have the final say over us, and His love and guidance will help lead us into this path towards the ultimate victory.

Lastly, from our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the moment when Mary visited Elizabeth, her cousin, whose miraculous pregnancy had been told to her by the Archangel Gabriel at the same time as the Good News of the coming of the Saviour was told to her. And we heard how Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit after Elizabeth and her unborn son recognised her and the Son of God that she bore within her, and for this amazing miracle and wonders that God had done, and for having finally revealed the long-awaited salvation, all of which were done through this simple and humble woman of Nazareth, God had indeed shown us all His wonderful and ever-enduring love, faithfulness and commitment to His Covenant, which He had made with us, and these were what Mary sang in her great song of praise, the Magnificat, in praising and glorifying God for His greatness, wonders and love for us mankind.

Today’s celebration of the Assumption of Mary has great link to what we believe about her in the other Dogmas, such as the Immaculate Conception and her Perpetual Virginity. Mary had been prepared specially for this role to be the one to bear within her the Son of God Himself incarnate in the flesh. Therefore, linking to another Scripture reading used in the Vigil Mass of this Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, Mary as the New Ark of the New Covenant is even far greater than the original Ark of the Covenant, which had been made from the most noble and precious materials by the hands of men, but incomparable to the New Ark, Mary, that was made and crafted by God Himself, to bear something far greater than what was in the original Ark, the New Covenant that is far greater than the original Covenant, covering not just the people of Israel, but also all the sons and daughters of mankind, to all the whole world.

As what St. John had seen in the vision, Mary is truly the Woman that God had prophesied from the beginning that would be the end of Satan as mentioned in the Book of Genesis, as the New Eve, the one who together with the New Adam, Christ our Lord Himself, would undo all the harm and corruptions that sin had brought upon us through the disobedience and selfish desires of the first Adam and the first Eve. By their obedience and commitment to their missions, both Christ our Lord as the New Adam and Mary, His Mother as the New Eve, they showed us all what it truly means for us all to be faithful to the Lord and to walk the path that He has shown and led us all through. And the Assumption of Mary which we celebrate today reminded us all of this triumph and victory that Our Lord and His mother have won for us against sin.

That was why Mary was kept from the taint of original sin, being conceived without it, in the Immaculate Conception so that no taint of sin would have made her unworthy of bearing the Lord and Saviour of all, God Himself in the flesh. And she remained full of grace throughout her whole life, and hence, to the very end of her earthly existence, Mary remained free from the taint and corruption of sin, and hence according to Apostolic tradition, teachings and beliefs, Mary did not have to suffer from the effects of sin unlike the rest of us mankind, who still have to endure death as the consequence of our sins. That, together with the historic evidence and the testimony of the experiences that the Apostles and the early Christians themselves experienced, Mary was indeed taken up to Heaven in body and soul.

Now, as mentioned, one of the schools of thought highlighted this lack of consequence for sin and death, and therefore Mary did not go through death at all, and was taken up directly into Heaven to the side of her Son. Another school of thought, which is also celebrated as mentioned in the Eastern churches and traditions as the Dormition of the Theotokos, is that Mary did still die, but not because she had to suffer the consequences of sin, which is death, and she did not die as a punishment for her own sins, because she was free from it. Rather, she died, and went through the process peacefully akin to falling asleep, and hence ‘Dormition’, and all these happened because she wanted to share in the same death that her own Son suffered on the Cross, out of love for Him, so that she would be like just her Son in all things.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Mary showed us all the preview of what we ourselves will experience in the end of times, when we too shall share with her the fullness of the resurrection, as we are lifted up in body and soul, reunited fully with each other, truly living a new and eternal life with the Lord, to enjoy forever the inheritance that God has planned and meant for each and every one of us. That is why, we too should seek to follow the Lord wholeheartedly and worthily in the same way as our Blessed Mother herself had done, so that in all of our words, actions and deeds, in our every dealings and interactions with one another we will continue to be good examples and inspirations for one another as good disciples and followers of the Lord.

May God be with us always and may through the intercession of our loving Mother, Mary ever Virgin, assumed body and soul into Heaven, and now seated at the right hand of her Son’s Throne, we will continue to be guided and strengthened in our respective journeys in life. May God bless our every good works and endeavours, and may His blessed Mother continue to intercede and pray for us, now and always. Holy Mary, Mother of God, gloriously assumed into Heaven, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.