Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary

Jan 12 2025

God to the Rescue!

I had a dream on the feast of the Assumption many years ago. It was one of those dark and scary dreams in which I was running through the streets of a town, dodging evil creatures and malevolent attackers. Suddenly I found myself in an abandoned lot. No trees. No buildings to hide me. No, no, no! I was totally exposed.

Have you ever had a nightmare like that? Or lived through a horror like that? Today’s reading from Revelation starts with a similar terror. A woman wails aloud. A serpent stands ready to devour her child about to be born, a horrifying reptile whose tail can sweep away the stars!

Yet the child is caught up to God. The woman is secured in the radiance of the desert. She and her baby are safe. As we celebrate the Assumption, we read this account because of its parallels. We believe that at the moment of death, however it happened, Mary was not devoured by death, but caught up to God.

Is death like that distress? Is it followed by an abiding sense of tranquility? We do not know. We may think that we grasp God, but in reality, no. The Redeemer is here for us. The Lord is our Rescuer, the one who snatches us from terror and brings us to peace.

In my dream, as I stood so frightened in that open field, peaceable people encircled me, powerful people who loved me and were pleased with me. The horror could not come near. I was safe. I was secure. Brightness surrounded me. Now when I think of Mary and the communion of saints, I swell with courage. I feel that I have been surrounded by them.

No matter what, we are safe. We dwell secure. All will be well.

Consider/Discuss

When you were younger, was there a place where you dwelt secure or a person with whom you were thoroughly “at home”? Where do you find safety now?
What is it like to feel alone and in terror? How is that different from being surrounded by love? Think of times when the Lord has been your Rescuer.

Living and Praying with the Word

Holy Spirit, you are the divine tie who binds us with those who are in heaven. Illumine our hearts to see that we are not alone, that those who have gone before us are cheering us onward toward peace and everlasting life. Be with us in moments of earthly terror and fear. Rather than seeing things from our earthly perspective, grant us knowledge to see things from a heavenly viewpoint, that ultimately, when this is over, all will be well. Snatch us up, carry us away to you!

Jan 12 2025

Scripture Study for

After the seventh trumpet has blown, signaling God’s triumph over diabolic powers, the temple opens and the ark of the covenant is revealed. This scene of divine victory immediately shifts to an image of Israel giving birth to the Messiah. The child is saved from Satan, the huge red dragon attempting to destroy him. One sees here a reference to the attempt of the powers of hell to destroy Jesus through his death on the cross, only to be foiled when he is raised from the dead and ascends to heaven. The woman, who now represents the persecuted church, is protected by God just as Israel was protected in the wilderness after the Exodus.

Some Christians in Corinth apparently denied the resurrection of the dead, to which Paul responded that if there is no resurrection, then obviously Christ was not raised from the dead, making their faith in him pointless. They are still in their sins, have no hope beyond this life, and those who have already “fallen asleep in Christ have perished.” But Christ was raised from the dead, and his resurrection was not just for him but for all who have received life in and through him. At his second coming, those who are “in Christ” will be resurrected, too. Christ alone will be sovereign, the only authority, and all powers will be subject to him, including and especially the power of death.

Mary expresses prophetically in her Magnificat the meaning of the coming of the Messiah. True to character, God has shown mercy not just to her, but to all who have remained faithful and waited in hope for the longed-for salvation, making good on the ancient promises. The fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation, however, will not be good news for everyone. Those who do not fear God, the proud and the rich, those who are satisfied with a world just the way it is, in which some have and others do not—for these, the coming of the Messiah will be a time of judgment on them and on their way of life.

Jan 06 2025

Mary, Mother of Hope

The feast of the Assumption offers hope. What has been done for Mary will be done for us. Our God, the Creator of all that is, has intended from the beginning that creation would share in the fullness of light and life. God’s purpose is to bring all creation into the life of the Trinity.

Today’s readings are rich in images of being lifted up. In Revelation, we find the image of the child being caught up to God and God’s throne, safe from the threat of the dragon intent on devouring the child. Paul writes to the Corinthians that just as Christ has been raised up, the first fruits, the beginning of the harvest, so too in him all shall be restored to life. And the Gospel gives us Mary’s great prayer, her only extended speech in scripture, when she sings her song of praise to God: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord . . . (who) has lifted up the lowly.”

The Assumption of Mary also lifts us up in hope. What has been done for her will be done for all of us who have been redeemed by Christ, if we commit ourselves to dying and rising with him. She is the mother of and model for all disciples. Her words at the Annunciation, “Be it done to me according to your word,” began a life of surrender to God’s will. This yielding led to her being taken into the presence of God, where she prays for us in union with her Son.

Consider/Discuss

Can you see in this feast a promise of hope for all who are faithful to the Lord?
Can you see a challenge to surrender to God, who will lift you into the fullness of life?

Responding to the Word

Mary, help us to find Christ, knowing that when we “do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5), we follow your example of surrendering our will to the Father. Give us the hope that springs from a trusting faith in the Father and shows itself in love for one another.

Jan 06 2025

Scripture Study for

Two signs appear in the heavens, a pregnant woman and the cosmic dragon. She is no ordinary woman. Rather she is depicted as an astral being, superior even to the moon. The twelve stars symbolize the signs of the zodiac, the seven-headed dragon a cosmic monster. Her child is described in royal terms. He is destined to shepherd all of the nations and to rule with a rod of iron, an image of harsh punishment. He is rescued from the threat of the dragon and caught up to the throne of God. His mother is also protected by God, but she flees into the wilderness. The reading from Paul brings together several of his most treasured themes. Christ is identified as the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. His resurrection contains the promise of resurrection for all who are joined to him. Paul argues that through sin Adam brought death into the world. In a similar manner, joined in faith to Christ, we are all brought to life. Paul seems to suggest that there is an interval between the end of the world and the final end when Christ will hand the fruits of his victory over to God.

Mary greets Elizabeth with a customary salutation, but it causes the child in Elizabeth’s womb to leap with joy. It is as if Mary is the ark and the child within her is the glory of God. In response to this wondrous experience, Elizabeth exalts first Mary and then her child. Mary’s hymn of praise has strong parallels in the victory hymns of Miriam (Exodus 15:1–18), Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1–10), and Judith (Judith 16:1–17). While the first section of the prayer describes the great things that God did for Mary, the last verses list some of the past blessings enjoyed by Israel. Mary’s hymn of praise suggests that the marvels accomplished in her are a final example of God’s mercy. The salvation of God’s people has finally come.

Dec 11 2024

Closeness in Love

God is love. If we forget that, Christianity is emptied of meaning. It was love that brought the Word-made-flesh into the womb of the Virgin Mary in the Incarnation. It was love that revealed to John the Baptist that the Redeemer had come in today’s story of the Visitation. Today, it is love that cares for the body of her who took care of the body of Jesus.

God is love. That is the source of it all. There is no other. When you love someone, you want them near, close. The Greek word used for death in the New Testament is the opposite of that. It means separation. To be dead means to be cut off, isolated, and alone—apart.

In the Resurrection, God altered that isolation. God brought the human body of Jesus back to life, to be close. Stuff may still look the same on the surface, but God has transformed death in the depths of the earth.

I went to the garden to wrestle with that thought. As “the depths of the earth” simmered in my mind, I picked cherry tomatoes from plants that were ten feet high. Why so big? Last fall, I layered maple leaves and horse manure and then planted a cover crop; in spring, I turned that decaying richness under. Now, here in August, on the surface, you cannot tell. But that unseen transformation in the depths of the earth has brought forth vibrant new life.

Vibrant new life will be ours as well. All that decays? That will be transformed. We will be brought close, not be separated or isolated or lost. That is our hope: God brought Mary home, and will do the same for us. Body and soul, we will join with Jesus in heaven.

For God is love. That is the goal of it all. There is no other.

Consider/Discuss

In the Creed, we say,” I believe in the resurrection of the body.” For two millennia, theologians have wrestled with what a resurrected body looks like. We can try, but we really cannot imagine it, for it is beyond our limited time-and-space-experience. (Analogies don’t always work perfectly either.) But today’s feast of Mary’s assumption encourages us to believe that those whom God loves will ultimately be drawn close; we will become most fully ourselves, a unity of body and soul in heaven. That’s a hard thought. Spend some time thinking about it. (Maybe have a few cherry tomatoes while you’re pondering it.) What does that mean to you and the direction and goal of your life?

Like the soil in a garden, the richness of a prayer life is hidden from view. On the surface it may look the same whether we pray or not, but the fruit is different. When we are washed by God’s love, that experience transforms the junk of our life. When we have been cared about and brought close, that affects how we care for others. Have you had seasons when your prayer life was rich? What does that do for how you interact with others?

Living and Praying with the Word

Great God of the Universe, it all begins and ends with you. Your love surrounds us like a comforter on a cold night. You want us to be close to you. You do not want us to be separated. Thank you for sending your Son to transform death. That is not something that we can fully grasp. But we believe. We cannot imagine what eternal life with you will be like, but we look forward to it with joy. Mary our Mother, on this feast day, we celebrate your assumption into heaven. You are with your Son. Show us the way home. Keep us close.