Rev 11,19a; 12,1-6a.10ab/Psa 45,10bc.11.12ab.16/1Cor 15,20-26/Luke 1,39-56.
Reflection by Most Rev. Emmanuel Kofi Fianu, SVD(Catholic Bishop of Ho, Ghana)
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As it is evident from the readings of the day,the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in heaven is not recorded in the Scriptures.
The dogmatic definition of Pope Pius XII on 1st November 1950 marks the origin of this feast.
In this dogma, the Pope affirms that Mary was assumed body and soul close to the Son in heaven.
The empty tomb of Mary is the image of the empty tomb of Jesus.
Her assumption into heaven is a prelude to the total victory of the God of life over death.
The First Reading makes an allusion to this when it speaks of a voice from heaven that said: “victory and power and empire forever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ, now that the persecutor, who accused our brothers day and night before our God, has been brought down.”
The persecutor referred to in the vision is the dragon, the ferocious evil one who wanted to devour the child born of the woman.
This dragon is the imagery of evil, the author of death.
The victory of Christ over death and the assumption of Mary’s body and soul into heaven show that the dragon does not have the last word.
To those who remain faithful to God, it is given the power to overcome the dragon and reign with Christ.
It is important to point out that the “woman” in question in the vision is not a reference to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, but to the Church, the Spouse of Christ.
All who are members of the Church, the mystical Body of Christ, have been given the power to be victorious over death.
A careful look at our lives often presents the sensation that death is the last thing that will happen to us because we would enter into a moment of darkness or nothingness forever.
Our Christian faith however affirms that there is life after death so our journey toward death is actually a journey toward true life.
It is not easy to apprehend this truth but the feast of the assumption of Mary in heaven offers us the opportunity to reaffirm
our faith in the promise of God to give eternal life to all who believe in him.
Mary’s faithfulness and constant yes to the Lord won her the victorious crown of being assumed body and soul in heaven.
As we celebrate the feast of the Assumption,the words of praise of Mary in the Magnificat resound in our ears, as we listen to this canticle in the Gospel Reading.
We are invited to join Mary in rendering thanks to God for his faithfulness and for the promise of true life to all who believe in him and are faithful to the end.
As we thank the Lord for the gift of Mary, a model for all Christian faithful, we pray through her intercession that God may grant us all the grace to continually say yes to the call of God.
In this way, we shall also journey in all faithfulness to the victorious goal of true life in heaven where we shall be one with Christ and the Father in union with the Holy Spirit.Amen.
