A ​Great Sign Appeared in the Sky

The Gospel reading for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary sets the stage for Mary’s Assumption into heaven at the end of her life.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary had just recently conceived Jesus in her womb, and she has traveled to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was also pregnant.  When Mary greeted her, Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.  This excited exclamation from Elizabeth and the response of John the Baptist who was in her womb gives us a glimpse into why the Assumption of Mary occurred.  It was the first time that Jesus was recognized as the Lord and Mary as his mother.  Jesus as Lord and Mary as the mother of the Lord is the foundation of why we celebrate this event that, from a worldly point of view, can’t happen.  

By a great blessing from God, both Elizabeth and the child she was carrying (John) knew from the moment they heard Mary’s voice that she was carrying in her womb the most important person to ever be born: Jesus the Lord.  The Jews had been waiting a long time for a Messiah who would be their king, fight for them, and set them free of their oppressors.  Jesus was the Messiah they had waited for, but he did not come to fight a physical battle for them, and he was much more than just an earthly Messiah or king.  He was God himself come down from heaven, taking on human flesh and born of the virgin to fight and die for all of us, not on physical level but on a spiritual level, freeing all humanity forever from the consequences of sin, which is death, meaning eternal separation from God.  He came to give us all the opportunity to be forgiven of our sins and to share his life with us both now and with him for eternity, experiencing everlasting joy with him in heaven one day.   

Recognizing that Mary was carrying someone very special, the Lord Jesus, is the reason Elizabeth became so excited and cried out to Mary, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”  Then it seems that almost out of awe of this revelation, this epiphany she just had that she was in the very presence of God, Elizabeth in all humility said, “How does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me.  Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

At the end of her life, Mary, the Mother of Jesus, which makes her the Mother of God, the one chosen by God among all women ever created to bear the Christ in her womb, bring him into the world and raise him as her son, at the end of her life the truth of Elizabeth’s epiphany comes to fulfillment and the Blessed Mother was given a great gift from her son Jesus when he Assumed her body and soul into heaven.
  
In the Catechism paragraph 966, the Church explains the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary this way.  "The Immaculate Virgin, preserved from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.” 

In our world today, unfortunately many Christians don’t believe in the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, but why is that?  Often, as it is with many things in life, we just don’t know what we don’t know, and for many the Assumption is something they have never been taught or studied about.  Others just say the Assumption is impossible, while at the same time proclaiming, "All things are possible through God," which they are.  But the primary reason many they don’t believe in the Assumption is because it is not recorded in the Bible.  There are, however, two other accounts of people whom God assumed into heaven that are recorded in scripture, so her Assumption would not have been impossible or even the first time God had done this.  Second Kings 2:11 tells us the prophet "Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind."  Hebrews 11:5, says, "By faith Enoch was taken up to heaven so that he should not see death."  

While it would be great if every detail of Jesus’s life and the Blessed Mother’s life were recorded in the bible, most of it is not.  Even important events like the death of Jesus’s earthly father St. Joseph is not mentioned in scripture, even though we know it had to happen.  Also, with Mary's high standing in the infant Church and her role as the mother of Jesus, if Mary was not Assumed into heaven why is it that neither the scriptures or any other document, record where she was buried?  There are, however, writings from as early as the second and the third centuries that actually do contain an account of Mary’s Assumption into heaven.  In addition, no grave or remains of the Blessed Mother have ever been found.  We all know that if a relic of the Blessed Mother was ever found it would be front page news all over the world.  The Assumption of Mary is only one of many significant events in the life of Jesus and Mary that have been remembered and witnessed to by Sacred Tradition.

While, like I mentioned earlier, the Assumption is not recorded in scripture, we were given a great visual image of the Assumption in our first reading today from the book of Revelation.  There we are told, “A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”  This description is the basis for most of the images and statues we see of the Assumption.
  
This Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary should stand as a reminder to all of us that our faith in Jesus is never in vain.  That just as in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, even though things don’t always go as we wish they would and knowing that we will experience difficult, painful, and frustrating times in life.  By surrendering ourselves to Jesus body, mind, and soul, as Mary did, making Jesus the most important person in our life, we will find peace, happiness, and holiness in this life and eternal glory in his presence in heaven, in the next.  Amen