Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Assumption of the BVM
15 August 2024

Anytime we honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, as we do today in her assumption, the honor is closely tied to the ark of the covenant.  Mary, in fact, is called the New Ark or the Ark of the New Covenant in theological writings and among spiritual authors.  This connection to the ark is no surprise since the Scriptures make this connection.  We saw it in the first reading from the Book of Revelation.  There we have St. John’s vision of the heavens opened up and he sees the ark in the temple.  And immediately, in the next verses it goes on to make the connection, saying a “great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun”.  We see that image of the woman as an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

  How do you think the Jews thought of the ark of the Old Covenant?  Let’s consider some things the Scriptures tell us about that ark.  Only the Old Covenant Levitical priests could carry it.  No one else could touch it, under pain of being struck dead (as happened in some passages).  The ark was carried in procession as God’s people journeyed through life in their wanderings toward the Promised Land.  It accompanied them in battle as they faced hostile forces from other peoples.  The ark was the privileged meeting place of God with them.  But, the ark was not God Himself.  It was a powerful sign that God was near and in the midst of His people.  The ark contained signs of God’s presence, but no one thought the receptacle, the box itself, was somehow God.  Now, I want to ask, doesn’t all that sound like utmost respect and honor for the ark?  Do you think anyone among the Jews would have discounted the importance of the ark?  Or do you think anyone would have claimed that honoring the ark might confuse people into thinking the ark itself was God?  No.  And it’s the same with Mary, the ark of the New Covenant.

In addition to my work as a priest, I have other interests and things I am involved in outside of parish work.  Not all of those things are necessarily religious in nature.  Recently I was speaking to the organizer of one group I work with.  It’s not a religious group, but is involved in things in the public square.  The organizer is a sincere bible-believing Protestant.  He said to me, “You do good work for us… with or without the Rosary”.  Now, he wasn’t trying to be disrespectful and I didn’t take it that way.  His comment wasn’t the strongest of criticisms, but it did demonstrate a misunderstanding.  I said to him in response, “Oh, I assure you, any good you think I do is most definitely with the Rosary and with devotion to Mary, the mother of our Savior”.  I share this with you to say, don’t let anyone confuse you into thinking that Marian devotion, or things like the Rosary or litanies or processions, or things we use as part of our devotion to Mary are somehow inappropriate.  Don’t let anyone get away with claiming that honoring her is contrary to Scripture.  No, like the ark of the Old Covenant, she accompanies us on procession in the journey of this life.  She accompanies us as we face difficulties and struggles and must battle against sin to grow in holiness.  She reminds us powerfully that God is near.  How could she do anything other?  It was in her that God came to dwell and from her that He took human flesh in order to unite Himself to us.  And like the ark of old, in all of this honor and devotion, we do not somehow think that she is God.

But we honor Mary for far more important reasons.  Mary is more than just a receptacle, a “container”, where God came to dwell.  We honor her and are devoted to her because she is the premier disciple.  We are devoted to her because her entire life was marked by the mystery of salvation in Jesus Christ.  And we are called to allow the paschal mystery of Jesus, his suffering, death, and resurrection, to mark our lives too.  We see something of this in the second reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians.  St. Paul writes, “Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep…. For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life, but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ”.  St. Paul teaches us that we bear the mark of Adam in the natural order, meaning that our nature is fallen and we experience disorder, dissolution, and death.  But by spiritual adoption from God, we bear the mark of life in Christ, in the spiritual order.  If we follow this life in Christ as his disciples, we follow that proper order so that we are brought to life.  After Christ, we celebrate that Mary’s entire life was marked by the mystery of salvation.  We celebrate that she followed her son into heavenly life.  And for this reason, she is the model and the sign to us of God’s nearness and our part in being raised to life in Christ.  We honor Mary and celebrate her because through her we have the powerful reminder that God is near and acting in our midst.  Therefore, our hope and encouragement is that our life too can be marked by the same reward of Heaven!