The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

CNS photo - Baltimore Cathedral

Assumption, 2011                               Chapter Sermon                                                             

• The Assumption of our Lady into heaven is not just another feast of Mary which completes her CV.  Nor is it an anniversary which we remember each year and then go on with our own lives.
• Mary’s Assumption reaffirms our belief in the resurrection of Jesus, which is the bedrock of our faith.  As St Paul says in writing to the Corinthians, ‘If he has not risen then our faith is dead.’
• The Assumption of Mary expresses our belief that we are all on the road to heaven.  Heaven is the destination we are heading for.  Each morning when we awaken we are moving further along that route.
• Our Lady’s Assumption is the hook on which we hang our belief that she has ascended to be beside her Son in heaven and that our destiny lies in hers. 
• Jesus is truly risen.  That belief underpins our faith; Mary’s Assumption is the confirmation of that truth.  She is the first disciple of her Son.  And she is also the first to experience the full reality of what happened to her Son after his death.  He rose to new life.  She shares that reality in a much fuller way than we can appreciate.  We believe that we are saved through the death and resurrection of Jesus - but not yet!  We still have to battle with our demons and conquer them.  But the power of the risen Jesus is with us to guide and help us and the example of Mary and the saints are also there to encourage and assist us as we travel.
• On this feast of Mary we celebrate that mystery of faith.   We know that we are truly one with the risen Lord and must go on in faith believing that this is so. 
• When Jesus was speaking to the crowd about the bread of life, they didn’t or wouldn’t understand what he was saying and so went away from him.  It was a great act of faith they were being asked to make.  (What would have been our own response if we had been there?)  Jesus then asked his faithful band of disciples if they would go away as well.  Perhaps the disciples were not sure what Jesus was actually saying.  But they knew him and trusted him.  Peter’s reply, ‘Lord to whom shall we go?’ must be ours, too, as we stand before this other great mystery of life after death.  Mary now fully experiences that for herself.  It awaits all of us at the end.
• The road to that glorious place has been mapped out for us.  Sometimes in preparation for an important journey we like to drive over the ground ourselves to make sure we are on the right road.  We can then see what lies ahead and be more sure we are going in the right direction. 
• Unfortunately our own inner life journey doesn’t have that kind of precise and clear view of the road ahead.  What we do know is that we will get there if we learn from those who have gone before us.  They have shown us how they did it.  We also know that the way we live/the way we drive, the courtesy we show to the others we meet on the way as we go along, and the care we take as we travel, all affect how we get to our destination.
• Like most road maps in today’s world we can’t be sure if the exact route others took is still viable for us as we make the journey ourselves.  Even a satnav warns you to be wary as there may be diversions or road works ahead. So, even though we know where we want to go, we sometimes need to stop and check where we are.  We may have to turn round to get back on to the proper road, either because we took a wrong turning or the route has been altered slightly.
• Holiness and getting to heaven is not like a carbon copy which we adhere to blindly.  We have to apply the gospel to our life, to our vocation and personal circumstances, so that we finally arrive at the desired goal. 
• The funny thing is that we may all travel in different ways but those who arrive at the ‘pearly gates’ share an uncanny likeness.  They are all transfigured with the same glory that Peter, James and John saw shining on Jesus on the mountain.  That was a foreshadowing of the glory given to the risen Jesus and now to Mary in her assumption into heaven.  Please God it will be a foretaste of what lies ahead for all of us as we daily seek with Mary’s help to stay on that golden road to God.