HOMILY for the Assumption of the MBVM
Apoc 11:19. 12:1-6. 10; Ps 44; 1 Cor 15:20-26; Luke 1:39-56
On Easter Sunday, an 11th-century poem is read (or sung) during the Mass, and it contains these lines: “Death with life contended: combat strangely ended! Life’s own Champion, slain, yet lives to reign.” This image of life engaged in a cosmic battle with death is picked up in the book of the Apocalypse, where we see the final great battle between life and death. The woman, pregnant bearer of the Child, the symbol of Life itself, is in conflict with the Dragon. But the Risen Christ, fruit of the Woman’s womb, is victorious. In the end, death is defeated by the Champion of life, however “the last of the enemies to be destroyed is death”. Hence, every human being still dies. But death is not final. Rather, as John Donne says: “One short sleep past, we wake eternally/ And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.” In other words, death is not final. There is an end to the duration of death, and it gives way to life. As it says in the Golders Green crematorium, “Mors Janua Vitæ”, Death is the Gateway of Life. Thus we say in the Creed: “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come”.
Today’s feast of the Assumption puts flesh, as it were, on this statement of our faith. It makes concrete the promise that we will share in Christ’s resurrection. It shows us what we hope for, namely, that after death we too will be united as body and soul once again, and we will, by God’s grace and in the power of the Risen Lord, be taken up into heaven. So, as the Preface of today’s Mass says, Our Lady’s Assumption is the “beginning and image of [the] Church’s coming to perfection”. Today’s feast puts before us an image of what we say we look forward to in the Creed.
However, until the final triumph of God’s grace in our lives, life still contends with death. For sin still has a hold over us, and the Dragon, that is, Satan still prowls throughout the world looking for someone to devour (cf 1 Peter 5:8). We know that the final victory belongs to Christ, and through today’s feast we know that he has already shared this victory with his Immaculate Mother. So now we ask that we may also share in that victory over sin. We pray that day after day, we will stay close to Mary our Mother who defeated Satan by God’s grace, and who was never seduced by his temptations and lies. With her help may we do likewise; may we avoid sin and glorify God in what we do and say. For, as Bede Jarrett said, “If she [our blessed Mother] understands as none other can, will she not also desire to help as none other can, since she is the Mother of Him who was all love?”
So, on this feast day, let us look to Mary Immaculate, our Blessed Mother, for help. Therefore, let us consecrate ourselves to the Immaculate Virgin. Because, as St Maximilian Kolbe, the Franciscan priest-victim of Auschwitz who was martyred on 14 August in 1941 said: “The Immaculata alone has from God the promise of victory over Satan. However, assumed into Heaven, the Mother of God now requires our co-operation. She seeks souls who will consecrate themselves entirely to her, who will become in her hands effective instruments for the defeat of Satan and the spreading of God’s kingdom upon earth.” For, today, life and death is engaged in combat around us – indeed, in our own moral lives, in the choices we make. As Christians, Life’s victory will be ours too if we have Christ as our own Champion, if we follow him and obey him. Then, like Our Lady, we shall also share in Christ’s eternal Easter triumph over sin and death, and enjoy the glory of the Resurrection in the company of Mary our Mother.
ghost--electricity liked this
cesuk12 liked this
loveistrueart reblogged this from lawrenceop
sieggthewolfbun liked this
lawrenceop posted this