the day when, at the end of her life on earth,
God brought Mary, body and soul, into heaven.
This means that God was not willing to allow her body
to experience the decay we all face when we die.
It means Mary received early what all of us are promised to have
In the resurrection at the end of time:
enjoying God’s presence, not only in our souls,
but in our bodies, too; in bodies that will never die again.
Some people resist this; they wonder why God would do this for Mary.
And my answer is that God will not be outdone in generosity.
Remember, what we celebrate above all
is that Mary was her son’s first and best disciple.
As Saint Augustine said, Mary conceived Jesus first
in her heart by faith, and then, in her womb.
What’s more, the honor we give to Mary was foreshadowed.
In the Old Testament, they had an “ark”—
a gold-covered box that held the stone tablets
on which God himself wrote the words of the Covenant.
God’s People were commanded to honor to that ark—
And when people treated that ark with disrespect,
God is always very unhappy about that.
Well, what about the New Covenant?
The ‘Word’ of the New Covenant isn’t written on stone;
Rather, the Word becomes flesh in Jesus Christ!
And that Makes Mary the ark of the new covenant.
If God would honor a wood box that held stone tablets,
How much more the woman who cherished his divine Son,
Not only in her womb for nine months, but in her heart, all her life?
We believe, with St. John Damascene, that it was, in a way, “necessary”
that Mary, who had given her all to Jesus, should receive this honor.
Two more points:
Whenever Israel went into battle,
they always took the Ark of the Covenant with them, leading the way. So should we!
Always be armed with your Rosary, and know how to use it!
Second: the Son of God was not too exalted
to dwell in the embrace of Mary.
If it is good enough for Jesus,
it ought to be good enough for each of us.
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