“The Assumption – Ultimate Victory for those who belong to Christ.”  Beloved, the Assumption celebrates that Mary was taken body and soul into heaven after her physical death.  Concerning Jesus, we speak of the ASCENSION; but for Mary, we speak of the ASSUMPTION.  This is the final victory of God’s Promise, putting PERPETUAL ENMITY between the Devil and the Second Eve, Mary, and between the Devil’s seed and the Second Adam, Jesus (cf. Gen 3:15; 1Cor 15:45, 47), after the first Adam and the first Eve failed woefully (cf. Gen 3:1-14; Rom 3:23; 6:23)!  Consequently, neither Jesus nor Mary was ever tainted by the Devil and his works – Sin and Corruption of flesh (cf. Ps 16:9-10; Rev 12:5-6, 13-17).  Indeed, “The Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his Name.”     

 Many Protestants and Evangelicals struggle with this Mystery.  So let us clarify in detail: Stephen, the first Christian martyr, received a vision about Jesus after His Ascension: “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56).  WOW!  Using apocalyptic language in our First Reading (Rev 11:19; 12:1-5, 10), John, the beloved disciple (cf. John 19:26; 21:7) and earthly caretaker of Christ’s Mother (cf. John 19:25-27) relates a similar vision he had after Mary’s death and Assumption: “God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.” WOW!  Which ark did John see in heaven?  A wooden Ark of the Old Covenant? (cf. Exod 25:10, 16-22).  Absolutely not!  It does not take rocket science to know a wooden box, an earthly piece of furniture, does not go to heaven and is not in need of salvation.  John was speaking about a person, a woman; as he clarified, saying “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”  WOW!  Notice, it is all about glory and splendor.

To be “Clothed with the sun” is the language of the transfiguration: Christ’s “face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light” (Matt 17:2); meaning not just His face but His whole body lit up like sunlight making his garments white as light.  That is basically what John saw about Mary in her transfigured glory: “a woman clothed with the sun.” And this is where the connection between the First Reading and the Gospel Passage (Luke 1:39-56) becomes significant: both John and Luke were Gospel writers under the influence of the Holy Spirit (cf. 2Tim 3:16; 2Pet 1:20-21).  They are showing us the place of TYPOLOGY: Old Testament prophecies in relation to their New Testament fulfillments.  Both of them presented Mary as the Ark of the New Covenant John saw in heaven.  How so?  The Old Ark manifested special signs of divine presence and power (cf. 1Sam 5:1-12, 2Sam 6:6-7); consider the divine presence and power which flowed from the greeting of the New Ark, “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:41).

Next, afraid of the Lord, David said, “How can the ark of the LORD come to me?” (2Sam 6:9); out of reverence for the Lord, Elizabeth said, “How does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:43). Also, the Old Ark contained “the manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant” (Heb 9:4); the New Ark contained in her womb, Jesus – the New Manna or “Bread of Life” (John 6:35, 48), the One “to rule [the world]… with an iron rod” (Rev 12:5) and “the new covenant” (Heb 9:15; 12:24).  The Old Ark spent three months in the house of Obededom (cf. 2Sam 6:11), “Mary remained with… [Elizabeth] about three months” (Luke 1:56).  Then, the Old Ark was venerated, carried in festive liturgical procession (cf. 2Sam 6:2-5), not seen as idolatry but as compatible with the worship of God.  As Catholic Christians, we do the same with Mary.

 Jesus exemplified God’s commandment: “Honor your father and your mother” (Mark 7:9-13; cf. Luke 2:51). Surely, many misguided folks and celebrities may live in million dollar mansions, while their parents live in slums.  If you were Jesus, the “Alpha and Omega” (Rev 1:8; 21:6; 22:13), the “Resurrection and the Life” (John 11:25; 14:1-6), how would you honor your mother after her death?  Abandon her in the grave to be consumed by earthworms and termites? Jesus did not do so.  And, Scripture shows not everybody will die and be buried; some will die and rise to eternal life instantaneously (cf. 1Cor 15:50-54).  Mary belongs here (cf. 1Cor 15:51-52).  Finally, though we may die and be buried, hope remains alive as expressed in our Second Reading (1Cor 15:20-27): “For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life.”  Please, persevere in the life of the beatitudes (cf. Matt 5:3-16; 1John 3:2-3); we too will experience transfiguration and glory (cf. 2Cor 3:18; Phil 3:20-21) for “the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt 13:43), through Christ our Lord. Amen.