I would like to begin today by speaking about relics. What are
relics? Well, usually, they are items that were part of the Lord’s life and
death, such as relics of the true cross, or relics of saints, most often portions
of the saints’ bodies. Relics were highly valued throughout the Church from its
earliest days, but particularly in the Middle Ages. Kings and nobles would send
emissaries all over the world to find them. They would pay huge sums of money
to obtain them. St. Louis of France built La
Chapelle to house the relic of Our Lord’s Crown of Thorns. The Cathedral in
Cologne boasts of having the relics of the magi. Compostela in Spain is still a
place of pilgrimage for those wishing to visit the relics of St. James. If you
go to Padua in Italy you will see the famous relics of St. Anthony, including
the tongue to the famous preacher[1].
But nowhere will you find a relic of the body of the Blessed
Virgin Mary. There aren’t any. When Mary’s time on earth came to an end, she
was totally united, body and soul, to her Son in heaven. This is what we are
celebrating today, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven.
It was never God’s plan that the creatures He made in His
image and likeness would suffer and die. People, mankind, Adam and Eve, had the
ability to choose God and choose His Life. Instead, they pushed God aside. His Life was rejected. The
rejection of life resulted in death. Mankind has suffered the result of this
rejection. Adam and Eve and everyone after them died or will die. Like Adam and
Eve, Mary was created totally united to God. We call this her Immaculate Conception. Like Adam and Eve,
Mary had the ability to choose God or reject Him. But unlike Adam and Eve, Mary
chose God, chose Life. Mary
brought her Immaculate Conception to its fulfillment when she said to the Angel
Gabriel, Let it be done unto me according
to your word.” We often call this Mary’s fiat from the Latin word, May
it be done. Her desire to trust in God despite what the world might throw
at her was her living out her Immaculate Conception. Adam and Eve were too
proud to do this. They jumped at what they were told would be an opportunity to
be like God themselves. Mary said,
Be it done unto me according to your word.
The world, and the prince of the world, the devil, threw its
worst at her. She was the object of gossip. She was a young teenager, perhaps
she still living with her parents, and she was pregnant. She could have been
stoned to death. Joseph could have turned her over to the law. But he was a
righteous man. He knew what would
be right with God. Having the young girl killed would not be God’s way. Joseph
trusted the angel of his dreams and took Mary as his wife. Mary’s child was born in a stable, a
smelly, stinky dirty stable. When Jesus began his public life, Mary witnessed
her son being mocked by the religious authorities whose teaching he had come to
bring to its completion. And then there was the cross. And there she was, under
the cross. The Passion in the Gospel of John makes it a point to say that Mary
was standing beneath the cross. She was not crumbled into a hysterical heap of
tears. She was standing under the
cross. Her heart was breaking, but her faith in the Father remained strong. And
it was there, under the cross that she became our mother.
Now, fully united to her Son, body and soul, she intercedes
with him for the children He gave her, for us. This is a gift we can only understand through the eyes of
faith. Our Mother is always there
with Our Lord, praying for us, calling upon Him to hear her prayers and our
prayers.
Many non-Catholics cannot understand this. They attempt to
tell us what we believe, as though we need to hear from them what our faith is.
We know that we don’t worship Mary. But we also know that she is our Mother
always present with her Son. That is why prayers to Mary are so powerful. That
is why the rosary is so effective. Mary is the closest to Jesus in heaven. She
is the only one fully united to Him, body and soul. And she will pray to Him
for us......if we ask her to.
Mary was intimately united to Jesus when she carried Him.
She remains intimately united to Him. When we bring her to others, we bring
Jesus. When we call upon her to pray to her son, she unites her prayers to the
One who is united to her. This is what we are celebrating today. This is the
celebration of her Assumption ■
[1] Thursday 15th August, 2013, the Assumption of the Virgin
Mary. Apocalypse 11:19; 12:1-6, 10. The
queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold - Ps 44(45):10-12, 16. 1
Corinthians 15:20-26. Luke 1:39-56.
