Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Yes! If we believe Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Ark of the Covenant has been found. But let’s leave that to the imagination of Hollywood Cinema. The real history of the Ark is more complicated than that.
God commanded the construction of the Ark to Moses while the Hebrew people were still camped at Sinai (Ex 25:10-22). It was constructed of acacia wood, and was plated with pure gold, inside and out. On the bottom of the box, four gold rings were attached, through which two poles, also made of acacia and coated in gold, were put. The Ark contained the first tablets of Ten Commandments, which were broken by Moses and the second tablets, which remained intact. As time progressed the Ark was placed in a tabernacle. When Solomon built the Temple in about 1000 BC, the Ark found a permanent place in the Holy of Holies in the inner sanctuary of the Temple in Jerusalem.
The Ark was used in the desert and in Israel for a number of spiritual and pragmatic purposes. a) God used the Ark as an indicator of when he wanted the nation to travel, and when to stop. b) When the Israelites went to war in the desert the Ark accompanied them to provide motivation. c) The Ark was the manifestation of God's physical presence on earth (the shekhina). d) When God spoke with Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the desert, he did so from between the two Cherubs (Num 7:89). Thus, God communicated with the people through the medium of the Ark.
The Ark was lost when the Babylonians destroyed the temple in 587 BC. To date, no one knows about the whereabouts of the Ark, unless of course, you want to believe Indiana Jones and Hollywood.
Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of our blessed mother into heaven. It seems very strange that today’s readings begin with a reference to the Ark and the Temple. “God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.” (Rev 11:19a). In other words, both the physical Ark and the Temple that are now destroyed somehow still has meaning in eternity. How is that possible?
The answer to the question is the reason for the Feast we celebrate today. I am going to explain this feast using three points.
1. History bears witness to the establishment of a New Ark. Recall, that the very first thing John sees after his vision of the Ark and the Temple is a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. And she was with child. (Rev 12:1) The rescue of the woman, in reality, refers to the people of Israel who were delivered from their enemies and the early Christian church that was facing immense persecution. Catholics also interpret this passage to be a reference to Mary who bore Jesus. In fact, Catholics call Mary the new Ark of the Covenant, and the new Temple. Did not the angel come to her and tell her that she would conceive and that “the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God?” If the old Ark was made of wood and it contained the two tablets and manna, the New Ark was a human person; within her was the very Son of God. Jesus was the New Covenant of God. Not only was she the Ark, but she became the Holy of Holies of the Temple. She carried within her the savior of the world. The old Ark and Temple was lost or destroyed. But how could God allow the New Ark, the New Temple, Mary, who carried God’s very Son be destroyed? That womb is holy; that womb is eternal. The feast of the Assumption tells us that God assumed the New Ark, the New Temple to heaven, into eternity.
2. So, are Catholics crazy to believe that Mary was assumed in to heaven? Are they out of their minds to call Mary blessed? It is surprising to many people that Mary is called blessed in the scripture by those who knew her. For example, Elizabeth in today’s gospel reading exclaims, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Lk 1:42) Later Mary herself says, “… from now on will all ages call me blessed.” (Lk 1:48). Later in Lk 11:27, someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” Jesus replied by saying, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it." No other woman heard and word of God and obeyed it more than Mary did. She indeed is the most blessed. She is blessed for another reason. In Luke 1:45 Elizabeth said to Mary, “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled." Mary had no idea what she consented to when she said “yes” to the angel. She was promised a child who would be “great,” the “Son of the Most High,” one who would “rule over the house of Jacob.” (Lk 1:32-33). Instead, she saw her son ridiculed, defamed, insulted, abused, tortured and killed. But she “believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled." How could God abandon someone who was so faithful, so faith-filled, so radical a woman? Catholics are not crazy to think that God assumed her into heaven. If she was my biological mother, I would want the same thing for her. Mary, my mother was blessed on earth and is blessed in eternity.
3. Here are the practical implications of the Feast of the Assumption. Thanks to Mary, the whole world is the Ark of the Covenant. Thanks to Mary, the whole world is the Temple of God. She gave the fruit of her womb for the redemption of the world. Because of Mary, every human person has a chance to become an Ark of the Covenant and a Temple of God. For you and I who are Catholics, this is true to an even greater degree. When we participate in the Eucharist and we enter in to communion, like Mary, each of us received the Holy one of God into our bodies and our lives. This means that we treat ourselves as holy as the Ark of the Covenant. This means that we treat each other as holy and sacred. Is that not why Mary rushed to Elizabeth even though she herself was pregnant? This means that we treat the world and everything in it as holy. If we want to know what it means to be the Ark of God and a temple of God, all we need to do is look at Mary.
This Eucharist is a celebration of the New Covenant. But it was Mary, the New Ark that brought Jesus the New Covenant to us. As we receive Jesus in communion today, let us thank Mary for giving us Jesus her son. Her gift to us became the cause of our redemption. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph