Oka, day 1

I was meditating on the Glorious mysteries of the rosary today, and I wrote this reflection that afternoon.


The Assumption matters!

Normally I meditate on the Glorious Mysteries when I pray the Rosary on a Wednesday. Today I saw a new dimension of the mystery of the Assumption of Mary that I never noticed before.

First, a quick recap on what the dogma of the Assumption actually is. It is a dogma of Catholic faith that “the Immaculate Virgin…on the completion of her earthly sojourn, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory”. (Lumen Gentium, no. 59) For the rest of us, when we die our soul may go the Heaven but our body goes into the ground to await the general resurrection of the dead. For Mary, however, her body was *also* “assumed” into Heaven.

This dogma is not universally held among Christians. The Orthodox generally agree with it, but they prefer to emphasize the “dormition” of Mary, i.e. the fact and manner of her death. The Protestants, however, do not accept the dogma of the Assumption. The “Biblical” Protestants (like the Evangelicals) usually outright deny the dogma, while the Anglicans often have a more neutral stance. For both groups, however, the rationale is based on the fact that the Assumption, as such, is not mentioned in the Bible. For them, this means one of two things: either the Assumption never happened, or it doesn’t matter even if it did happen.

I’ll be honest, I can sympathize with the difficulties of the Protestants. As a Catholic I have no problem believing in the existence of an extra-biblical Tradition that complements Scripture and perfects our knowledge of it, so the fact of the Assumption I do not doubt. But there is that whole “so what” factor that is harder to deal with. It’s very nice that Mary’s body was assumed into Heaven — good for her — but does it really matter?

As it turns out, yes. The dogma of the Assumption reminds us of a very important element of Christian faith — our resurrection. I don’t mean the resurrection of Jesus, I mean our own resurrection at the end of time. There are many people today who consider themselves Christian but who, in practical terms, do not believe in a personal resurrection from the dead. Sure, Jesus rose from the dead, but this is not seen as having any universal impact or dimension for us. It turns out that there were some early Christians who thought the same way, and St. Paul had to correct them:

Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied.

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. (1 Cor 15: 12-23)

The Assumption, if it is real, is a direct challenge to those persons who think Jesus’ resurrection was unique to him. Mary, while she is the perfect disciple, is nevertheless just as human as you and me. If the power of the resurrection can extend beyond Jesus to include her, and not just in her soul but in her body, then there is no reason why it can’t extend to the rest of us as well.

For my Evangelical and Pentecostal friends, I realise that this exposition may be unsatisfying to you. I suspect, though, that the dogma of the Assumption is closer to your beliefs than you think. Have you noticed, for example, how similar the Assumption seems to be to the Evangelical doctrine of the Rapture, what with a person — soul AND body — being assumed into Heaven by the Lord? Once we agree that there is a common spiritual intuition at work here, the rest can become a fruitful discussion of the details…why should Mary have been “raptured” before everyone else, for example, not to mention a good discussion of what the Rapture actually means anyway (I’ve come across a few versions of the theology of the Rapture in Evangelical writings).

Can Evangelical theology get away from a knee-jerk negative assessment of Catholic Marian teaching? Can there be an authentically Catholic “rapture theology”? The dogma of the Assumption just might be a starting point for both.