Aug. 15, 2021: Assumption B

 Aug. 15, 2021: Assumption B

Many of you here have a devotion to the Blessed Mother. How did you come to have such devotion? A woman who was a convert to Catholic faith asked her parish priest how she could come to know the Blessed Virgin better and to experience the deep affection for her that she saw in others. She knew of people who were so devoted to the Blessed Virgin and who seemed to have a very intimate experience of her. She was taught in her RCIA class that the Blessed Virgin is our heavenly mother, yet she hadn’t yet experienced her as her own mother. The priest gave a simple prescription: “Speak to the Blessed Mother as a living person, and tell her that you want to get to know her.” Coming from a Protestant background, she needed assurance that what her priest told her was scripturally based. Gradually through scripture study, she learned that the Blessed Mother was the Ark of the New Covenant.  

Ark of the Old Covenant

From the very beginning of human history, God desired to be among his creation. After the fall of Adam and Eve, God chose a very special way--the Ark of the Covenant and the temple--to be present among the Israelites. Moses was instructed to build a tabernacle, a moveable tent  where the ark containing the manna, Aaron’s staff, and the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments were placed. Whenever God desired to speak to the Israelites, Moses would enter the meeting tent and the glory cloud of the Lord covered or overshadowed the tabernacle. Later King Solomon, King David’s son, built a temple in Jerusalem to permanently house the Ark of the Covenant so that priests can offer daily sacrifice and people can come to worship and have their sins atoned. However, when the Babylonian Empire conquered Jerusalem and destroyed Solomon’s temple, the Ark was lost and was never mentioned in the Old Testament again. 

The Ark of the New Covenant: Living Presence of God

While the ark of the Old Covenant had been lost for centuries, apostle John wrote in the Book of Revelation that he saw the new ark. “Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple.” Then he wrote, “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. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.” The woman is Mary, the Ark of the Covenant. She was seen bearing the child who would rule the world. When we see Mary as the Ark of the New Covenant, we notice many parallels between Mary as the new ark. The old ark contained the law of God inscribed in the tablets of Ten Commandments. In Mary’s womb was the Word of God in flesh. In the old ark was the manna which kept the Israelites alive in the desert; in Mary’s womb was the Bread of Life from Heaven that brings eternal life. In the old ark was the staff of Aaron signifying priesthood; in Mary’s womb was the true eternal high priest. Hence the Blessed Mother is the living tabernacle and the new ark of the Word of God. Just as the glory cloud overshadowed the meeting tent in the tabernacle where Moses encountered God, the Blessed Mother was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit where in the Word made flesh, both humanity and divinity were united in communion. Her privilege was not only to be the living ark of the New Covenant; God’s grace allowed her to be conceived without the Original Sin and hence her body did not corrupt and decay like the rest of humanity. Rather, both her body and soul were assumed into heaven at the end of her earthly life.

For those without faith, a grave and a headstone in a cemetery are a sad reminder of the absence of the once living presence of a loved one in our lives. But for those with faith in Jesus, a grave and a headstone are a sign that our eternal home is not here on earth but with the Heavenly Father. Mary, our heavenly mother, shows us on her feast of Assumption that her motherhood never ceases. Her kind and gentle yet protective presence never left us when she was assumed into heaven. Just as her motherly instinct protected her son from the clutches of the dragon, she protects us from harm, especially from the evil one, on our journey on this earth. She is with us each day in our joys, our sorrows, our trials, successes, our rest and work. 

She helps us fulfill one mission during our life here on earth that she herself fulfilled while she was here on earth. She carried her Son to others in haste with humility and joy. Mother Teresa said, “Mary is the very model of the life we should lead… Loving trust and total surrender made Our Lady say ‘yes’ to the message of the angel. And cheerfulness made her run in haste to serve her cousin Elizabeth. That is so much our life: say ‘yes’ to Jesus and run in haste to serve him in the poorest of the poor. Let us keep very close to Our Lady and she will make that same spirit grow in each of us.” What joy we will bring to this good mother of ours when we bring Jesus to others!