Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
John R. DonahueJuly 30, 2001

Difficulty in reflecting or preaching on the Assumption has always been the absence of any biblical account that the "ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heaven" (Pius XII, Nov. 1, 1950). The dogma arose from centuries of reflection on the relation of Mary to the total Christ event. The readings today capture this connection. Paul looks to the transformation of all in Christ and to the resurrection of their bodies. Today’s feast says that Mary now lives with that transformation that is our hope.

The Gospel is especially powerful in the passage where Mary herself heralds with joy the God of reversals, who exalts "a lowly servant," whom all generations will now call blessed. She sings of God’s mercy to the weak, casting down the mighty from their thrones and lifting up the lowly. Mary’s assumption is her ultimate "lifting up," as will be our resurrection. In Luke, Mary is the one who hears God’s word, acts upon it and brings forth Christ to the world. From her body is formed the incarnate Son of God, a symbol that the body of every Christian is the bearer of God’s presence. The themes for this feast are rich: a woman raised to the presence of God; a humble servant who is the agent of God’s reversals; a model for us in our journey from responding "let it be done" to ultimate transformation when "the last enemy to be destroyed is death" (1 Cor. 15:27).

The latest from america

April 6, 2025, the Fifth Sunday of Lent: What new symbols do we need today? Sometimes new ideas require fresh images, especially when one tries to discern the signs and places where God was present.
Victor Cancino, S.J.April 02, 2025
March 30, 2025, the Fourth Sunday of Lent: Jesus’ parable in Luke’s Gospel masterfully illustrates three characters, the father and two sons, each of whom provides an insight on the human condition.
Victor Cancino, S.J.March 26, 2025
March 23, 2025, the Third Sunday of Lent: On this third Sunday of Lent, we are invited to become aware of God’s presence through living things like bushes and fig trees as well as in the contradictions that reveal divine mystery.
Victor Cancino, S.J.March 19, 2025
March 16, 2025, the Second Sunday of Lent: For the second Sunday of Lent, the readings remind us that God has renewed the covenant repeatedly throughout history.
Victor Cancino, S.J.March 11, 2025