Wednesday:    Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Date:         August 15, 2024.
Year:         B
The readings: [Rev. 11:19a, 12:1-6a, 10ab; 1 Cor. 15:20-26; Lk. 1:39-56]
The message:  The Dogma of the Assumption of Mary.
Prepared by:  Catholic Doors Ministry.
Total words:  1568

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Good morning! Today, we are celebrating the Feast of the "Assumption of Mary." As such, the sermon will be on the blessed Virgin Mary. The Feast of the Assumption of Mary represents a Catholic Doctrine that was defined by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950. The proclamation of the Church states that, revealed by God, the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into Heavenly glory.

While the Pope did say that the faithful had no difficulty in accepting the fact that the great Mother of God departed this life as her Only-begotten Son had already done, he did not actually define her death. As such, it has not been defined if the blessed Virgin Mary was taken to Heaven while she was still living or if she died and gloriously resurrected as Jesus did. There are no written records to support either way.

The origin of the Catholic belief in the Assumption of Mary goes back many centuries. While it would take too long to go into all the details, I would like to summarize some of the progressive factors that led to this Marian Doctrine.

During the reading of the Gospel of Luke, we heard that when Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, she called Mary the "Mother of my Lord." This passage has led the Church to proclaim the dogma of Mary as the Mother of God.

From the reading of the Book of Revelation, we heard that there is a woman, clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.

Throughout the history of the Church, recognizing that Jesus was the newborn male child spoken of in this passage, it was concluded that the woman referred to was the Virgin Mary. As a point of interest, when reviewing prayers cards of Church approved apparitions of Mary over the centuries, it is interesting to note that many of those holy pictures that are associated with Our Lady of Fatima (the Rosary), our Lady of Mount Carmel (the Scapular) and Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal include symbols of the sun, Our Lady standing on a moon and a crown of twelve stars around her head.

In today's reading from the Book of Revelation, we heard that the child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne. Being snatched away and taken to God represents the death and Resurrection of Jesus who now rules at the right hand of the Heavenly Father.

Once the child had been taken to Heaven, the dragon (Satan) pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. [Rev. 12:13] But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to her place where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. [Rev. 12:14]

When the Church considered the words, "two wings of the great eagle," it was spiritually guided to associate them with verse 32:11 in the Book of Deuteronomy where the eagle represents God. (The two wings may represent the two angels of God.) As such, it was concluded that the Virgin Mary was taken up to Heaven (by angels) to escape to a place of refuge.

Another convincing proof that the Church considered was that the privilege of the saints had to include the blessed Virgin Mary. Considering the fact that Enoch and Elijah were taken from this world in body and soul into paradise, would it not be appropriate to believe that the mother of God who was free from all stain of original sin, should be elevated higher than the angels, the prophets, the apostles and the saints of the Church?

Another factor that influenced the Fathers and theologians of the Church to admit to the Assumption of Mary was after considering the Book of Genesis. From passage 3:15, it is understood that Mary was part of the redemption alongside with her Son, pointing to her common lot with her Son in His resurrection and passage of glory.

"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel." [Gen. 3:15]

It was decreed by God that there would be hostilities between Satan and Mary, between the fallen angels and Jesus. The offsprings of Mary also include all the children of God who are saved through Jesus.

Of all proofs in support of the Doctrine of the Assumption of Mary, the most convincing is based on the traditional knowledge of the Church that Mary, as the Mother of God, had to be free of all traces of original sin in order to be the perfect child-bearing Temple of Jesus.

"For the Virgin Mary to be totally free of all traces of original sin, the threefold incorruption that we will one day receive, of body, soul and spirit, had to already be present in her. She had to be created by God as a second Eve, as an immortal being. Her soul, spirit and body had to be 100% free of original sin." (Reference: St. Germanus, in the 8th century, in his sermons on Our Lady's Falling-Asleep, taught that Mary had to have a threefold incorruption of body, soul and spirit.)

When Adam disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, he lost his inheritance of eternal life, in the sense of enjoying the ongoing beatific vision of God. His soul, spirit and body, and those of all his descendants were called to experience physical and spiritual death. It is only through the Church Sacrament of Baptism that, being born again, we received our new creation, the new heart, the spirit of the godly seed and the indwelling Holy Spirit in the hope of our salvation. Those who are not born again of water and Spirit will not enter the Kingdom of God.

In the Bible, there is no evidence that Mary every received the Sacrament of Baptism as Jesus did. This leads us to believe that since she already enjoyed the newly created heart and spirit from the moment of her conception, there was no need for her to be baptised in order to receive the gifts of God that would free her from original sin. Created immaculate, there were no traces of original sin within her.

As the Temple of Jesus, had Mary been born as a result of the seeds of her mother and father, she would have inherited the original sin of her parents without question. But this was not the case. Being free of the original sin as the Holy Catholic Church has proclaimed under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, then it becomes clear that the Heavenly Father implanted the female and male seeds within her parents to bless her with her immaculate state. As an immaculate mother, she then qualified to be the mother of Jesus, ensuring that He too would be free of all traces of original sin.

Is there any biblical evidence to support that Mary was created by God, soul, spirit and body, completely incorruptible in nature? Yes, there is! As a result of sin, when God punished Eve, He told her, "I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children..." [Gen. 3:16] As such, it is logically concluded that had Eve remained in her immaculate state, she would not have been subject to the pangs of childbearing, bringing forth children in pain.

Does the Bible refer to a woman bearing a child without pain? Yes, it does!

"Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she delivered a son (Jesus). Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? (the spiritual Kingdom of God) Shall a nation be delivered in one moment? Yet as soon as Zion was in labor, she delivered her children." [Is. 66:7-8]

While the Church has never proclaimed if the blessed Virgin Mary was raised to Heaven while still living or died and resurrected, the aforementioned proof support that Mary could not have died. Being incorruptible, having been created soul, spirit and body as the new Eve and spiritual mother of the world, at the twinkle of an eye, while being raised towards Heaven, she had to be transformed into her glorious body of light that she now enjoys. While we await for the day when our perishable bodies will put on imperishability and our mortal bodies will put on immortality, [1 Cor. 15:53-4] this was not the case with the blessed Virgin Mary.

As has been shown, the passages from the Books of Genesis, Isaiah and Revelations support one another. When reviewing these passages in their entirety, they go beyond the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception or the Assumption of Mary. They reveal that the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, shines as the Immaculate Heart of Mary in her glorious fullness of soul, spirit and body. Created immaculate by God above all other Heavenly and earthly creations, she is inseparable from Jesus.

Based on these facts, it is clear that the Holy Catholic Church has been inspired by the Holy Spirit in its proclamation of the Assumption of Mary.

(References: Gen. 3:15-6; Is. 66:7-8; Lk. 1:39-56; 1 Cor. 15:53-4; Rev. 12:1-17; "A Catholic Dictionary on Theology", page 170, published by "Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd," 1962; Catechism of the Catholic Church, # 491-2, 966, 974)

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The readings...

[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]

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First Reading...

"God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple.

A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth.

Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. his tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born.

And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne; and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that there she can be nourished for one thousand two hundred sixty days.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming, 'Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of the Messiah.'" [Rev. 11:19a, 12:1-6a, 10ab]

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Second Reading...

"Brothers and sisters, Christ has been raised form the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For Christ must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death." [1 Cor. 15:20-6]

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Gospel Reading...

"Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.

And Mary said, 'My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm;he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.'

And Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months and then returned to her home." [Lk. 1:39-56]

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