Word to the Wise
Sunday, August 15, 2021 - Aug. 15: The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Day
[Rev 11:19a; 12:1-6a; 10ab; 1 Cor 15:20-27; Luke 1:39-56]"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his Name...." [Luke]
These opening lines from the "Canticle of Mary," which come from the mutual greeting between Mary and her cousin Elizabeth in the Gospel According to Luke, can provide a framework, as it were, for any reflection on the special theological and devotional status of the mother of Jesus. From this latter fact comes everything else. Mary was the mother of Jesus of Nazareth. The theological implications of this were gradually recognized and contemplated by the Church fathers and theologians over centuries of discussion and devotion. Mary's maternal role in God's plan of salvation meant that she was privileged in ways that ordinary mortals, even baptized ones, have not been. The two principal beliefs, that were subsequently declared part of Catholic faith, are the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption. The first one was only declared in 1854 and the second in 1950 (in my living memory!).
The dogma of the Immaculate Conception declares that Mary from the moment of her own conception was free of "original sin." The dogma of the Assumption declares that Mary experienced the final resurrection of the dead at the moment of her death and did not have to await the end of time, when all humanity will rise again for divine judgment.
The lines of the Magnificat, quoted above, encompass the two great Marian dogmas, but also include so many other features of Catholic Marian devotion. We Catholics have given her many titles for various apparitions or needs. Enormous churches have been dedicated to her. The almost signature Catholic devotion of the Rosary can testify to the daily affection Mary enjoys in Catholic hearts. But all of this comes about because she was willing to become the mother of Jesus of Nazareth! That one acorn of truth has given rise to the vast oak of Catholic Marian belief and devotion. Because Mary's assumption into heaven at her death represents the fulfillment of the hopes of all believing Catholics, we celebrate this hope on August 15th each year. If our faith mirrors hers, great things can happen to us, too. AMEN