Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on the 4th Sunday of Lent.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! The ninth article of the Apostle’s Creed is “I believe in the Holy Catholic Church.” There are thirty-five (35) In Brief passages in the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding this article of the Creed. The following is a reflection on article 974.
When considering the mystery of the Church we must consider also the Blessed Virgin Mary who is the Mother of God, Jesus Christ, Founder of the Church. One part of the mystery of Our Lady is one which the sacred liturgy and sacred tradition and the magisterium of the Church all present, namely the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The mystery of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated each year on the 15th of August as a Holy Day of Obligation. The dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary teaches us that at the end of her earthly life Mary was taken up to Heaven, body and soul. Mary was faithful to the Lord all her days, always the “handmaid of the Lord” (cf. Luke 1:38). While not explicitly mentioning the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary we can recognize Mary assumed into Heaven in the great sign which appeared in Heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars (cf. Revelation 12:1).
Because the Lord Jesus has brought His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, to Heaven, the mystery of the Assumption focuses our attention on the glory of Heaven. The mystery of the Assumption presupposes the Ascension of the Lord Himself, forty (40) days after His glorious Resurrection (cf. Mark 16:19; Luke 24:51; John 20:17; Acts 1:3). While the Ascension helps us to long for Heaven where the Lord is, Mary’s Assumption should move us to pray for the grace of a happy death, so that at the end of our lives we might be ready to see the Lord and to be with Him forever in His mercy.
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a participation in the glory of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ her Son. In His Ascension, by His own power as God, Jesus has gone to the Father’s right hand in His glorified body (cf. Acts 3:13). The Lord of glory has brought His mother to Himself in her Assumption, body and soul.
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is an anticipation of the resurrection of all the members of Christ’s mystical body, the Church. Because the Blessed Virgin Mary enjoys the bliss of Heaven in her body and soul, our hope is well founded as fellow members of her Son’s mystical body, the Church, that where He has brought her He may likewise bring us to share His glory (cf. Romans 8:17, 30; 2 Thessalonians 1:12). Holy Mary, Mother of God, assumed into Heaven, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen!
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr