ASSUMPTIONS
ABOUT MARY
The title of my homily is, “Assumptions About Mary.”
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Mary.
YESTERDAY MORNING
Yesterday morning I had a funeral at St. Mary’s and there were over 100 people at the Mass.
I sensed - like many funerals and weddings - various folks were not Catholic.
I always think, hope, pray, that their experience will be holy, sacred, enriching, life giving, and they feel welcomed here at St. Mary's.
I always pray that any visitor to our parish - whether they are tourists going through Annapolis - and they come to one of our two churches - or they are here for a wedding or a funeral - that their time here touches on their religious experiences and upbringing. I hope they get in touch with their spiritual - as well as their religious questions and needs or what have you - and they are challenged to enter into God’s presence anew.
Yesterday morning I’m standing in the back after the Funeral Mass and this lady - with a bright smile - says to me, “That was nice, but it would have been wonderful if the symbols were explained.”
I paused. I think my mouth opened like this, [Open Mouth] Then she said, “I’m not Christian - so I didn’t understand what was happening.”
Then someone else jumped into the situation - and the train was out of the station - and people were heading for the burial. Phew! Relief. A, "What now?" bubble broke and vanished into thin air.
Well, when I sat down yesterday to come up with a homily for this feast - it hit me: “What would this lady wonder about - if she was here with a Catholic - who was coming to Mass for this feast of the Assumption and then the two of them were going out for something to eat after Mass?" What would be that lady's questions?
Then it hit me: “What are our assumptions about the Assumption?”
Then it hit me - to make the title of my homily: “Assumptions About Mary.”
FOR STARTERS: IT ALL DEPENDS
So for starters the assumptions people have about Mary would depend on who they are.
Is the other person Catholic or non-Catholic?
If the other person is non-Catholic, would they be Christian or what branch of Christianity?
With a slow growing awareness of Islam, people are hearing that Muslims mention Mary and honor her in the Koran. Joseph isn’t mentioned. There is a miraculous birth for Jesus - but Jesus is only a prophet - not God.
But I would not dare to make any other assumptions about Muslims and their understandings about Mary. I don’t know their sects - nor enough of their theology - other than reading the Koran and about 5 books on Islam.
I assume that some Protestant groups still make attacks and innuendos about Catholics and Mary. A man handed me an Anti-Catholic Chick Publication in the back of church - right after Mass a few Sunday's ago. It had some snide comments about Mary and Catholics. I also assume that some Protestant Churches honor Mary in various degrees. [1] I also assume very few people do their homework - and really communicate and study together about all this.
SO WHAT ARE MY ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT MARY?
If someone asked us, “What about Mary? What do you Catholics say about Mary?” what would we answer?
I would think the best reaction would be a pause? Maybe the open mouth move would also be smart.
Maybe the message to come our of our mouth could be: “What do you mean? What are you wondering about?”
Should we say, “That’s a good question.” I hear lots of people on TV making that comment. They must teach people to say that.
I would assume it’s smart to find out where the other person is coming from - what their questions are. Sometimes we jump into discussions - only to find out that the other person has an agenda and a position in the disguise of a question.
Next, I think it would be wise for all of us to clarify our assumptions about Mary.
I would assume in some situations the two main things we Catholics would say are: (1) "We don’t see Mary as God - or a Goddess." And (2) "At the same time we see Mary as special."
If the person has an attack agenda - why go that way? Blessed are the peacemakers.
MOVING FURTHER: THREE DIRECTIONS
Now, should I end here or should I perhaps complicate all this with some further comments?
Let me try the following: as a Catholic, I would think we have 3 main assumptions about Mary.
The first would be that Mary was considered special, sacred, blessed, revered, honored - right from the beginning of Christianity - and still is today.
I pick up assumptions from some non-Catholics that we Catholics got into Mary way after the Early Church.
Surprise! The Gospels themselves give evidence of Mary’s blessedness. In today’s gospel we have the Magnificat. We hear Mary saying: “From this day all generations will call me blessed.” [Cf. Luke 46-55.]
I’ve never been in a challenge or a fight or what have you with non-Catholics on Mary or on anything - but I read that’s the text to use - if someone says and thinks this Mary stuff is a late development.
However, text fighting isn’t worth it . Isn’t that the genesis of the saying: "Even the devil can quote scripture"?
In the gospel we had for the Vigil Mass last night for this feast of the Assumption we have the , “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you were nursed” text. And Jesus replies, “Rather blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” [Cf. Luke 11: 27-28]
There’s the perfect balancing act.
That’s a perfect peaceful talking point.
There’s a theme that Vatican II stressed about Mary. At the time of our great Second Vatican Council, some wanted a separate document on Mary and then another document on the Church. Others at the Council stressed putting both together - and that's what happened. [2] Mary is the Model for the whole Church. Like her we are all called to hear the Word of God and then put it into practice. And that Word is Jesus and Mary said, “Yes” to receiving that Word. She became pregnant with that Word and brought that Word to our world - so too us. Great theology.
After beginning with the evidence of Mary in the scriptures I would consider for myself all the Christian buildings: churches, basilicas, cathedrals, shrines, chapels - around our world - named after Mary. Why argue with words - when stone and space and place scream loud and clear - about Saint Mary?
If you have a chance, before you die, put on your bucket list, Lourdes - if you haven’t been there yet.
A priest in our 3rd year of high school said to us: “Before you die, go to Lourdes.” I finally got there in 1996 - with my 2 sisters and my brother-in-law. Our teacher also said, “If you get there, make sure you take the bath in the Lourdes water.” I didn’t know what he meant till I did it. Then I understood.
I also heard a talk on a record by Charles Laughton, the actor, about Chartres in France as the Marian Shrine since 876 at least and then the big Cathedral of Chartres there that was finished in the 12th century. I had that on my bucket list and I caught a glimpse of what he said, when we got to Chartres on that same trip in 1996.
And our parish and downtown church, St. Mary’s - goes back to 1858.
All these buildings and we can add, all those paintings and statues of Mary in all those Churches - and many now in museums - say something. Let them do the talking to those who don't get the Catholic take on Mary.
My second set of assumptions would be Church statements about Mary - especially the Council of Ephesus in 431 - which used the word “Mother of God” - “Theotokos” in Greek. Notice the date: 431.
As Catholics we say that Mary is not just the Mother of Jesus - but the Mother of God. I don’t know if we get the implications in that. I don’t know if people can say that. It’s a great act of faith that her Son Jesus is not just human, but divine. Mary isn’t divine - but she brings Jesus into our world - as human - but he’s also Divine.
Mystery.... Mary is also big time mystery....
That’s what the scriptures are getting at in the great Mary texts our Bible - especially where we hear that she’s conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Here's the area where there should be big time fireworks for those who don’t get Catholicism and Mary. This where the Catholic Church after a long, long time finally proclaimed as dogmas Mary’s Immaculate Conception and Assumption.
Catholics see this woman not as God - but as the one - a woman from Nazareth - one of us - who brought forth and still brings Christ to our world.
And my third and last assumption is that we can pray. We can talk to this woman. It's called prayer. But she's dead - some say. We say, because of Christ, she was assumed into heaven - and that's our hope and faith as well. We die - but we believe because of Christ, we rise. This is what we say the scriptures say. [3] The history of our church - gives plenty of evidence of Christians praying and believing this right from the beginning.
CONCLUSION
So on this feast of Mary, let us conclude by saying together, one Hail Mary and while saying it, please notice in Part 2 - the non-Scripture part of the Hail Mary, the words “Holy Mary, Mother of God.” Let’s unite ourselves to all those in our world praying to Mary today to bring us and our world to her Son, Jesus and to one another.
O O O O O O O
NOTES:
On top: Theokos Icon - Our Lady of Kazan - popular in Russia since the 16th Century.
[1] Here are a whole series of quotes and comments concerning Luther and Mary that I found on line:
"There can be no doubt that the Virgin Mary is in heaven. How it happened we do not know. And since the Holy Spirit has told us nothing about it, we can make of it no article of faith . . . It is enough to know that she lives in Christ. (Sermon of August 15, 1522, the last time Martin Luther preached on the Feast of the Assumption)
"The veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart." (Sermon, September 1, 1522)
"[She is the] highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ . . . She is nobility, wisdom, and holiness personified. We can never honor her enough. Still honor and praise must be given to her in such a way as to injure neither Christ nor the Scriptures." (Sermon, Christmas, 1531)
"No woman is like you. You are more than Eve or Sarah, blessed above all nobility, wisdom, and sanctity." (Sermon, Feast of the Visitation, 1537)
"One should honor Mary as she herself wished and as she expressed it in the Magnificat. She praised God for his deeds. How then can we praise her? The true honor of Mary is the honor of God, the praise of God's grace . . . Mary is nothing for the sake of herself, but for the sake of Christ . . . Mary does not wish that we come to her, but through her to God." (Explanation of the Magnificat, 1521)
"It is the consolation and the superabundant goodness of God, that man is able to exult in such a treasure. Mary is his true Mother." (Sermon, Christmas, 1522)
"Mary is the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of all of us even though it was Christ alone who reposed on her knees . . . If he is ours, we ought to be in his situation; there where he is, we ought also to be and all that he has ought to be ours, and his mother is also our mother." (Sermon, Christmas, 1529)
"It is a sweet and pious belief that the infusion of Mary's soul was effected without original sin; so that in the very infusion of her soul she was also purified from original sin and adorned with God's gifts, receiving a pure soul infused by God; thus from the first moment she began to live she was free from all sin." (Sermon: "On the Day of the Conception of the Mother of God," 1527)
"She is full of grace, proclaimed to be entirely without sin- something exceedingly great. For God's grace fills her with everything good and makes her devoid of all evil." (Personal {"Little"} Prayer Book, 1522)
"Christ, our Savior, was the real and natural fruit of Mary's virginal womb . . . This was without the cooperation of a man, and she remained a virgin after that. {Luther's Works, eds. Jaroslav Pelikan (vols. 1-30) Helmut T. Lehmann (vols. 31-55), St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House (vols. 1-30); Philadelphia: Fortress Press (vols. 31-55), 1955, v.22:23 / Sermons on John, chaps. 1-4 (1539)}
"Christ . . . was the only Son of Mary, and the Virgin Mary bore no children besides Him . . . I am inclined to agree with those who declare that 'brothers' really mean 'cousins' here, for Holy Writ and the Jews always call cousins brothers." {Pelikan, ibid., v.22:214-15 / Sermons on John, chaps. 1-4 (1539)}
"A new lie about me is being circulated. I am supposed to have preached and written that Mary, the mother of God, was not a virgin either before or after the birth of Christ . . . "{Pelikan, ibid.,v.45:199 / That Jesus Christ was Born a Jew (1523)}
"When Matthew [1:25] says that Joseph did not know Mary carnally until she had brought forth her son, it does not follow that he knew her subsequently; on the contrary, it means that he never did know her . . . This babble . . . is without justification . . . he has neither noticed nor paid any attention to either Scripture or the common idiom." {Pelikan, ibid., v.45:206,212-3 / That Jesus Christ was Born a Jew (1523) }
". . . she is full of grace, proclaimed to be entirely without sin. . . . God's grace fills her with everything good and makes her devoid of all evil. . . . God is with her, meaning that all she did or left undone is divine and the action of God in her. Moreover, God guarded and protected her from all that might be hurtful to her." (Luther's Works, American edition, vol. 43, p. 40, ed. H. Lehmann, Fortress, 1968)
". . . she is rightly called not only the mother of the man, but also the Mother of God. . . . it is certain that Mary is the Mother of the real and true God." {Sermon on John 14. 16: Luther's Works (St. Louis, ed. Jaroslav, Pelican, Concordia. vol. 24. p. 107)}
"Christ our Savior was the real and natural fruit of Mary's virginal womb. . . . This was without the cooperation of a man, and she remained a virgin after that." (On the Gospel of St. John: Luther's Works, vol. 22. p. 23, ed. Jaroslav Pelican, Concordia, 1957)
"Men have crowded all her glory into a single phrase: The Mother of God. No one can say anything greater of her, though he had as many tongues as there are leaves on the trees." (From the Commentary on the Magnificat)
Editor Jaroslav Pelikan (Lutheran) adds:
"Luther . . . does not even consider the possibility that Mary might have had other children than Jesus. This is consistent with his lifelong acceptance of the idea of the perpetual virginity of Mary." {Pelican, ibid.,v.22:214-5}
". . . in the resolutions of the 95 theses Luther rejects every blasphemy against the Virgin, and thinks that one should ask for pardon for any evil said or thought against her." ( Ref: Wm. J. Cole, "Was Luther a Devotee of Mary?" in Marian Studies 1970, p. 116:)
"In Luther's Explanation of the Magnificat in 1521, he begins and ends with an invocation to Mary, which Wright feels compelled to call 'surprising'". (David F. Wright, Chosen by God: Mary in Evangelical Perspecive, London: Marshall Pickering, 1989, p. 178, Cited from Faith and Reason, Spring 1994, p. 6.)
[2] Cf. Lumen Gentium, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Chapter VIII, "The Role of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, in the Mystery of Christ and the Church," November 21, 1964
[3] It's not one of the texts for this feast of the Assumption - but read the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians.
