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.