Q&A: I find it difficult to preach on the Assumption since, as far as I can tell, it has little relevance to the person in the pew. It is one of those privileges of Mary, which makes us stand in awe before her and which, sad to say, distances her from the ordinary follower of Jesus.
Fr. Gaffney, SMM
From Father J.B., New Orleans, LA
Assumption’s Relevance For Today
Remember a basic principle of sound Mariology; “Whenever we talk about Mary we are ultimately talking about ourselves.”
In other words, in Our Lady – the first Christian – we discover what it means to be graced, redeemed, glorified. True, Mary experiences a union with the Lord which is unique as the Mother of God; nonetheless she reveals to us the fullness of Christ that we are to share in our own way.
This principle is most applicable to the mystery of the Assumption. As Mary – in a unique way – shares body and soul in the victory of her risen Son, so too shall we be glorified one day in Christ. She is the “sign of sure hope” that the follower of Christ is destined for glory. In her Assumption we see our coming victory, the triumph in Christ of the entire cosmos.
Especially in these difficult times, the feast of the Assumption is definitely “relevant.” And far from distancing Mary from us, the Assumption describes her as one of us, one of the redeemed who even now fully experiences the victory of Christ.
In the glory of her Assumption, Our Lady is the eternal Yes of this creation to Jesus, a Yes through which flows all the graces and blessings of the Lord.
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