On 15th August every year, the Catholic Church recalls and celebrates the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She was assumed body and soul into heaven at the end of her life on earth because of her role as the Mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and her life of obedience, faithfulness, and humility in God’s sight. Her Assumption into heaven was, accordingly, celebrated throughout the history of the Church as the oldest and greatest of the fifteen (15) Marian feasts in the Liturgical Calendar. It is, for this reason, an important and meaningful feast that invites the members of the Church to understand its doctrinal and liturgical basis and relevance to their spiritual life with God. Mary was assumed into heaven wholly and solely by God’s power to preserve her body and soul from the corruption of sin and death. But her Assumption is very relevant for us because it reveals what God has done and will do for those who are also faithful, obedient, and humble like Mary in their lifetime. The central message of this year’s feast of Assumption I, therefore, present to all believers in Christ, our Muslim friends and relatives, other believers, and all people of goodwill is; “God has shown us the power of his arm in Mary’s Assumption.” This statement is based on Mary’s Song of Praise or Magnificat in Lk. 1:51. She attested that God has shown the power of his arm, scattered the proud-hearted, casts the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly. I have rephrased her statement and related it to her Assumption so that it will be relevant for us and also renew our hope in God’s power to transform our human lives and raise us to a new life in heaven.
The Magnificat is part of St. Luke’s Gospel reading that is always proclaimed on the feast of Mary’s Assumption. It forms part of his account of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth when she expressed her Song of Praise and thanksgiving to God for the great things he has done in her life and his people who are poor and lowly. The Magnificat itself is commonly attributed to Mary but if we carefully examine its content, structure, and characters, it is clear that Mary was not solely referring to herself in her Song of Praise. Her testimony included how God looked on her in her lowliness, as well as, God’s intervention and reversal of his people’s situation in life. This additional reference to God’s people explains why biblical scholars suggest that Mary is presented in this passage as “the spokeswoman of the theme of reversal that becomes a vital part of the message of Luke’s Gospel … She becomes the spokeswoman for Christian disciples as a representative of the pious ones among God’s chosen people.” She first acknowledged that God showed the power of his arm before she specified how God reversed the status of the poor, humble, and faithful of God’s people who experienced his power in their lives. The power of God’s arm was, therefore, manifested in both Mary and God’s chosen people when he looked on their lowliness, exalted them beyond their weakness, fed them with good things, and transformed their lives. Her Assumption into heaven should equally represent for us God’s manifestation of his power in her life that God too will reveal to us if we are humble, obedient, and faithful to him like Mary.
God’s power was clearly manifested at Mary’s Assumption at the end of her lifetime but God also reveals his power to us whenever we recall and celebrate this event. This does not suggest in itself that our yearly celebration is a repetition of Mary’s initial Assumption into heaven. Our celebration is a reenactment of her glorious exaltation by God. It is, in that sense, a re-presentation of her initial Assumption that is also real for us as it was in the past. We should not, therefore, doubt or underrate what we witness and participate in our liturgical celebration of Mary’s Assumption into heaven. For, God’s revelation of himself in Jesus Christ was once and for all. His revelation was, therefore, final, definitive, and complete. An additional or extra revelation cannot, subsequently, be given again by God that is more perfect than what he already manifested in Jesus Christ. But God’s final and complete revelation of himself in Jesus Christ is what the Church believes is ongoing and renewed in our times, in order to, be relevant and effective on us. God’s power was also finally and totally revealed when he preserved Mary from the corruption of sin and death and assumed her body and soul into heaven. But God’s active and powerful role in Mary’s Assumption is an ongoing revelation that should inspire and renew our faith and hope in his power to transform, save, and exalt us as his humble, obedient, and faithful servants. We are not, for that reason, celebrating a mere historical event in the past. Our Lady’s Assumption is also a meaningful and relevant feast for us in our spiritual life with God.
In our spiritual and human lives as believers and members of Christ’s Body, the Church, God also shows and proves his power to us in various ways and at different moments of our lives. We should equally recognize and acknowledge God’s power like Mary when it is revealed and manifested in us and our fellow human beings. As the creator of heaven and earth and our source of life, God still manifests his power in our lives. He fully protects, sustains, and renews us in our spiritual and human existence. In our weakness and struggles against the forces of sin and evil, God equally reveals the power of his arm. He assists us with his strength and guidance and he enables us to overcome our weakness and resist the temptations, misinformation, and lies of the evil one and its agents. God also reveals his power to us in times of sickness, danger, intolerance, instability, and oppression. He saves his people who depend on him through the power of his arm. We witness and experience God’s power too in the mission and ministry of the Church’s ministers and agents of evangelization and the charitable works of humanitarian agents. As instruments of God’s goodness and compassion, they transform and reverse the condition of those who are abandoned and less privileged in our society. Our personal gifts, talents, competence, success, and achievements are also manifestations of God’s power in our lives. For, God is the one who empowers and enables us to accomplish what we cannot do on our own. We should, for that reason, recognize and cherish as individuals and as a community of faith the power and strength of God’s arm in our lives.
When God manifested his power in Mary’s life and his people who were humble, obedient, and faithful in his sight, Mary expressed her praise and thanksgiving to God in her Magnificat. She appreciated God’s intervention and transformation of her life and she also magnified and praised him for what he has done. Her reaction or response to God’s manifestation of his power was gratitude and exultation. As a member of God’s people who experienced his power, the psalmist also presented his praise and gratitude to God in Ps. 118:16-18. He testified that “God’s right hand has triumphed, his right hand raised him up. God’s right hand has triumphed so he shall not die; he shall live and recount the Lord’s deeds. That he was punished by the Lord but was not doomed to die.” None of God’s people who witnessed and experienced God’s manifestation of his power in their lives was silent, indifferent, and unwilling to express their praise and gratitude to God. We should, for that reason, sing Mary’s Song of Praise in union with her as we celebrate the manifestation of God’s power in her glorious Assumption into heaven. At the same time, we should express our own praise and gratitude to God in our daily lives when we witness and experience the ongoing revelation of his power in our times. Our celebration of the feast of Our Lady’s Assumption into heaven should, therefore, have a positive and personal impact on us. It should enable us to fully recognize and appreciate the power of God’s arm in Mary’s life and his faithful people and to also express our own prayer of praise and gratitude to God for what he has done for us.
As the Mother of Jesus, the Son of God, Mary was exalted and assumed body and soul into heaven through God’s mighty power. Her glorious Assumption would not have happened, as such, if God had not manifested his power, preserved her from sin and death, and reunited her with her Son in heaven. God’s saving power was what ultimately made Mary’s Assumption into heaven a reality. We should, therefore, recognize and acknowledge what God has done for Mary and ourselves in our times. For, God is not only a God who worked wonders and great things in the past and revealed his presence, power, love, and goodness for his humble, obedient, and faithful servants. He also continues to manifest himself and his authority on us in various ways and at different stages of our lives so that we will believe in him and renew our hope and confidence in his power to exalt us beyond our weakness and the forces of sin and evil. We should, therefore, consider Our Lady’s Assumption as a manifestation of God’s power that is intended to confirm our faith in God. Our celebration will equally be meaningful and relevant for us in our spiritual life with God. As the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Banjul, I wish all the priests, deacons, religious, seminarians, and lay faithful of the Diocese, our dear brothers and sisters in Christ, our Muslim friends and relatives and Gambians of all religious beliefs a blessed, joyful, meaningful, and fulfilling celebration of the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary. Oh Queen assumed into heaven, pray for us that the power of God’s arm will protect and deliver us from sin, evil, falsehood, corruption, hatred, and intolerance.
Your Servant in Christ,
Most Rev. Dr. Gabriel Mendy, C.S.Sp.
Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Banjul, The Gambia.
