Aug. 15, 2008: Feast of the Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary
One of the blessings of being a priest is that I get to be at many funerals. I'm not joking. I enjoy being at funerals. I'll tell you why in a little bit. As a kid, I did not want to see a body of a deceased person. Perhaps it's cultural, too. Koreans do not display body at a wake or at the funeral. They close the casket and place a photo of the person on top. Why do we in the West display the body of the deceased? In fact, we are not fearful for our children to come and see the body of the deceased. Do we not tell our children that uncle Buck or mamon Betsy is in a better place? I encounter at funerals estranged family members who wandered far from their faith or even perhaps have become atheists who say to me at the funeral that their mom or dad was now in a good place. So there is something about us that we inherently believe that our spirit lives on beyond our body. And because of that conviction we keep something of that person with us, like their hair, their clothing, or their favorite item. These things or relics serve as a reminder that our loved one is still with us on the earth even when that person is in heaven.
In Catholic Church, we are especially fond of things that belonged to a saint. For example, in most Catholic Churches, the altar usually have a piece of bone or 1st Class relic of a martyr or a patron saint of the parish. We have the relic or the bone of St. Aloysius Gonzaga here at our parish. I carry with me daily a bone of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, a piece of the habit that Mother Teresa wore on her death bed, and a part of the habit of Padre Pio right here in my shirt pocket. When I pray with a sick person in the hospital or hear confessions, I ask Padre Pio, Mother Teresa, and Father Seelos to intercede for them right now in heaven. Non-Catholic Christians don't understand why we venerate relics. But if we Christians believe that saints are alive and well in heaven and that they are interceding for us right now to Jesus, then is it any different to use a relic as a reminder that this saint is alive and listening to my prayers?
Let me now do a theology pop quiz. We know that when we die as a Christian our body remains here on earth while our soul goes to heaven. It's only when Jesus comes the second time that our soul will unite with a new resurrected body that will not die or decay. Right now, there are two persons in heaven who have both their soul and body together. Who are they? (Jesus and Virgin Mary) Why does Virgin Mary have her body with her in heaven when she is like the rest of us? She is like the rest of us except she was spared from the Original Sin. That's what we celebrate on the feast of her Immaculate Conception. She was born without the stain of Original Sin. One of the consequences of Original Sin is death. So if she was born without Original Sin, does that mean that she never died? When the Dogma of Assumption of Blessed Virgin was declared it left open whether Our Lady died first then her body and soul were taken up to heaven or she somehow went directly. Nevertheless, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrating the fact that one of our own was singularly gifted with the grace from God to be freed from Original Sin so that her body and soul are united together in heaven. Is it too difficult for us to believe this?
Well, God has left us miraculous signs here on earth that nothing is impossible for Him. I saw such a sign on my pilgrimage to Lourdes, Fra
nce. On one of the side trips, I went to the convent where St. Bernadette of Lourdes was located. After Blessed Mother appeared to Bernadette in 1858, she entered a convent and died in 1879. The church authorities dug her body up 30 years later (1909) in order to investigate her sainthood. They found that her body has not decomposed. The church authorities dug her body up again in 1919, and again the body did not decompose. Her body is in display in a glass case at her convent. You can go there and take photos of her. And I took a photo of her, and I made lots of copies for you to have them. I placed them at the entrances to this church, so on your way out, please take one with you. After 130 years, her body has not decomposed although no preserving chemicals were used. God is reminding us through this miraculous sign that He is preparing a new body for us that will not die or decay.
In Catholic Church, we are especially fond of things that belonged to a saint. For example, in most Catholic Churches, the altar usually have a piece of bone or 1st Class relic of a martyr or a patron saint of the parish. We have the relic or the bone of St. Aloysius Gonzaga here at our parish. I carry with me daily a bone of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, a piece of the habit that Mother Teresa wore on her death bed, and a part of the habit of Padre Pio right here in my shirt pocket. When I pray with a sick person in the hospital or hear confessions, I ask Padre Pio, Mother Teresa, and Father Seelos to intercede for them right now in heaven. Non-Catholic Christians don't understand why we venerate relics. But if we Christians believe that saints are alive and well in heaven and that they are interceding for us right now to Jesus, then is it any different to use a relic as a reminder that this saint is alive and listening to my prayers?
Let me now do a theology pop quiz. We know that when we die as a Christian our body remains here on earth while our soul goes to heaven. It's only when Jesus comes the second time that our soul will unite with a new resurrected body that will not die or decay. Right now, there are two persons in heaven who have both their soul and body together. Who are they? (Jesus and Virgin Mary) Why does Virgin Mary have her body with her in heaven when she is like the rest of us? She is like the rest of us except she was spared from the Original Sin. That's what we celebrate on the feast of her Immaculate Conception. She was born without the stain of Original Sin. One of the consequences of Original Sin is death. So if she was born without Original Sin, does that mean that she never died? When the Dogma of Assumption of Blessed Virgin was declared it left open whether Our Lady died first then her body and soul were taken up to heaven or she somehow went directly. Nevertheless, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrating the fact that one of our own was singularly gifted with the grace from God to be freed from Original Sin so that her body and soul are united together in heaven. Is it too difficult for us to believe this?
Well, God has left us miraculous signs here on earth that nothing is impossible for Him. I saw such a sign on my pilgrimage to Lourdes, Fra
nce. On one of the side trips, I went to the convent where St. Bernadette of Lourdes was located. After Blessed Mother appeared to Bernadette in 1858, she entered a convent and died in 1879. The church authorities dug her body up 30 years later (1909) in order to investigate her sainthood. They found that her body has not decomposed. The church authorities dug her body up again in 1919, and again the body did not decompose. Her body is in display in a glass case at her convent. You can go there and take photos of her. And I took a photo of her, and I made lots of copies for you to have them. I placed them at the entrances to this church, so on your way out, please take one with you. After 130 years, her body has not decomposed although no preserving chemicals were used. God is reminding us through this miraculous sign that He is preparing a new body for us that will not die or decay.
