The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
August 15 marks the solemn feast celebrating the dogmatic belief that Mary upon her physical death was assumed body and soul into heaven.
The Church has held this belief from around the 5th century. Pope Pius XII declared as a dogma revealed by God that Mary the immaculate perpetually virgin mother of God after the completion of her earthly life was assumed into heaven.
There are traditions regarding the place time and date of the physical death of the blessed mother. But no definitive knowledge of her death exists.
St. Gregory of Tour provided an explanation for the tradition of the assumption which is related to her having been preserved from original sin. It is inconceivable to think Mary’s sinless body should decay in the grave.
For Christians death is not extinction. Unlike Mary all ordinary mortals the Christian faithful and saints must wait for the second coming of Christ to receive glorified bodies.
You maybe thinking “All of this sounds good but what’s in it for me?” The assumption of Mary into heaven is important to the Church and to each of us individually for the following reasons.
We find hope in Mary’s assumption. One day known only to God we will experience the death of our physical bodies. The only exception will be the second coming of Christ to earth. Death is thought of as an end or maybe an unpleasant experience by some. Our angst will be lessened by the hope Mary’s assumption provides.
The second reason the assumption is important to us has to do with the care and concern Jesus shows to his followers. He said I go to prepare a place for you and I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am you will be also. We have scripture and the tradition of the assumption to provide hope and peace as we journey toward the end of this life and the hope of heaven.
I greeted a parishioner after mass this morning asking how things were going. He said the golden years are not what they are cracked up to be. Our bodies as the result of the aging process don’t function as they once did.
This brings me to the third reason the assumption of Mary needs to find a special place in our lives. We like Mary will receive a glorified body. I have no idea what this new body will be made of or how it will function. But I will take a new body sight unseen over the one I have now. My present body has served me pretty well to this point but I have noticed some subtle and not so subtle changes. And I know by observing others that the older I get the subtle changes won’t be quite so subtle. So the thought of a new body is quite a comfort.
Comfort is a good thing to have as the day’s race by. I suppose that is one element of Mary’s assumption we all need to consider. I find a great deal of comfort in this ancient tradition of the Church
August 15 marks the solemn feast celebrating the dogmatic belief that Mary upon her physical death was assumed body and soul into heaven.
The Church has held this belief from around the 5th century. Pope Pius XII declared as a dogma revealed by God that Mary the immaculate perpetually virgin mother of God after the completion of her earthly life was assumed into heaven.
There are traditions regarding the place time and date of the physical death of the blessed mother. But no definitive knowledge of her death exists.
St. Gregory of Tour provided an explanation for the tradition of the assumption which is related to her having been preserved from original sin. It is inconceivable to think Mary’s sinless body should decay in the grave.
For Christians death is not extinction. Unlike Mary all ordinary mortals the Christian faithful and saints must wait for the second coming of Christ to receive glorified bodies.
You maybe thinking “All of this sounds good but what’s in it for me?” The assumption of Mary into heaven is important to the Church and to each of us individually for the following reasons.
We find hope in Mary’s assumption. One day known only to God we will experience the death of our physical bodies. The only exception will be the second coming of Christ to earth. Death is thought of as an end or maybe an unpleasant experience by some. Our angst will be lessened by the hope Mary’s assumption provides.
The second reason the assumption is important to us has to do with the care and concern Jesus shows to his followers. He said I go to prepare a place for you and I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am you will be also. We have scripture and the tradition of the assumption to provide hope and peace as we journey toward the end of this life and the hope of heaven.
I greeted a parishioner after mass this morning asking how things were going. He said the golden years are not what they are cracked up to be. Our bodies as the result of the aging process don’t function as they once did.
This brings me to the third reason the assumption of Mary needs to find a special place in our lives. We like Mary will receive a glorified body. I have no idea what this new body will be made of or how it will function. But I will take a new body sight unseen over the one I have now. My present body has served me pretty well to this point but I have noticed some subtle and not so subtle changes. And I know by observing others that the older I get the subtle changes won’t be quite so subtle. So the thought of a new body is quite a comfort.
Comfort is a good thing to have as the day’s race by. I suppose that is one element of Mary’s assumption we all need to consider. I find a great deal of comfort in this ancient tradition of the Church
