From Archbishop Donoghue

Feast of the Assumption
August 15, 1999
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Dear Friends in Christ,

Today we celebrate one of the major feasts of our Catholic Faith, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. For many, the understanding of this dogma, this teaching of our Church about our Lady, has became lost in the past few decades. Like many things in our Church, there perhaps has been a weakening in our understanding of the more profound aspects of this part of the life of Mary, but I do not think that as a result, we feel a lesser need for our Lady’s inspiration and guidance In fact, in these times when we see so much of our Faith held up to ridicule by the culture which surrounds us, I believe that Catholic people, young and old, feel even a greater need to seek and to gain a close relationship with the strongest person, next to her Son, who ever lived, Mary – who knew as we know the uncertainties and challenges of human life, and who faced them with a character perfected by God. I think that just as each of us seeks and finds a personal friendship, or really something much stronger than friendship, with our Lord - through prayer, through reading the Scriptures and most especially by receiving Him into ourselves at Holy Communion - we are also, individually and as a Church, attracted, and even compelled to have the same relationship with our Lord’s mother.

This happens for a number of reasons:

· we are attracted to her holiness, her full-of-grace-ness: we see in this aspect of Mary, the perfection of what we are striving for ourselves, to be worthy containers for the presence of Jesus Christ and all that He means – His justice, His compassion, His mercy, and His Truth – all these God made Mary worthy to receive, in their most perfect form – perfect in her soul, and in her body, and we want to be like that too.

· we are attracted to her courage, her virtue, her valour, her long-suffering. It was a natural consequence of God’s choosing her to bear His Son, that gave her these extraordinary qualities – qualities that shine out from the brief mentions that occur in Scripture – at the Wedding Feast of Cana, when she spoke the commandment for anyone who desires to live in the peace of Christ, “Do what He tells you to do.” – at the Cross, where she stayed with Her Son through His death-agony, and where He made her the Mother and Guardian of our Church, looking at His friend John, and saying, “Woman, behold thy son,” and to John, “Behold thy mother.” – and afterwards, when with the Apostles, she received the fire of the Holy Spirit, and stayed with them, and prayed with them all the rest of her days.

· and finally, we are attracted to her destiny, to her fulfillment – for so beloved of God was Mary, the Mother of His Son, and the vessel of His Holy Spirit, that God would not wait till the end of time to have her with Him, but instead, drew her to Heaven’s throne, where she is above all created things, even the angels.

If we understand and accept the humble virtue of our Lord, who although God, became man for our sakes, then our own humility will tell us, that if God rewards us with just a fraction of the grace He has bestowed on our Mother in Faith, Mary, then our destiny, our fulfillment, will be rich and satisfying beyond all imagining.

Dear friends, I believe this is the meaning of the Assumption of our Blessed Mother – I believe that without a doubt, we see in the miracle that God has already performed for Mary, the prophecy of our own end and fulfillment. Many will and have opposed this doctrine of our Faith – many will scoff at those who assert that a body can rise, or that God has the power to transport that body into the regions of Heaven, a place that cannot be seen by the most powerful telescope, as it can neither be conceived by the most advanced intellect. But to us, to Catholics, it is a mystery that draws us on, into the greater mystery of its origin – the unaccountable but everlasting love of God for mankind, revealed in Christ, by the obedience of Mary. And so, even though separated by the expanse of an entire universe, we still feel the hand of Mary, our Mother too, reaching out from the stars, with the sun to crown her head, taking our hand, and leading us in learning to pray:

My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…
for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

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