MARY IS CLOSER TO YOU AND ME

In my second year in the seminary, a discussion arose among us seminarians on whether Mary died or not. Some said no—she was taken alive, body and soul, to heaven. Others, following the Orthodox doctrine of the Dormition, said yes—Our Lady died since she was mortal like us, but her body and soul, which seemed to be asleep, were taken to heaven.

Imagine seminarians who had not yet entered Theology already arguing like the bishops of old! It was fun—until Father Rector clarified that the dogma of the Assumption, declared in Munificentissimus Deus by Pope Pius XII, does not say whether she died or not. That is not what matters. What matters is this: in the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, love has won, and God shows us our future.

Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium, following the Bible, intimately relates the image of Mary to the image of the Church. In fact, when the Bible speaks of the “Mother of Jesus,” the “Daughter of Zion,” or the “Woman who defeated the dragon,” it speaks of both the Virgin Mary and the Church. That Mary was Assumpta—taken body and soul to heaven—tells us what our destiny is as believers.

Our Gospel today is very familiar to us: Mary’s Magnificat. The title comes from the first word in Latin: “My soul magnifies” (proclaims the greatness of) the Lord. God is not our competitor. His greatness is not our inferiority. This is not just the error of our generation; it is the error of all time.

What led Adam and Eve to sin? The thought that God forbade them the fruit of the tree so they would not be on the same level as Him. It is the same sin of the prodigal son, who thought that true freedom meant being as far away from his father’s house as possible.

This error persists. Many think freedom means autonomy—doing whatever I want, whenever I feel like it. “There are so many rules and commandments,” they say. “Religion makes you a prisoner. Why are you still there?” But true freedom leads us to realize that God’s greatness is our greatness. When God is glorified, humanity is glorified with Him. This truth is very clear in the life of the Virgin Mary.

The Magnificat is unique and original, but it also draws heavily from the wisdom of the Old Testament. Here we see why God chose Mary: she lived the Word of God. She deserved to bear the Word Incarnate because she lived in the Word. She breathed the Word; she was imbued with it. Her thoughts were God’s thoughts; her words were God’s words.

A Jewish woman in the first century AD was not allowed to read the Torah or preach in the synagogue. How, then, could Mary know Scripture so well? She did so by listening—listening and keeping everything in her heart, living and breathing the Word of God.

As mentioned earlier, the image of Our Lady always accompanies the image of the Church. As the Church of God, like the Virgin Mary, we must proclaim the greatness of the Lord in our lives, both in the privacy of our hearts and in public situations.

Sometimes we think that when the Virgin Mary was assumed into heaven, she became distant from us. But the truth is the opposite: being at the side of God—who is always with us—means that Our Lady is closer to each of us than ever before. Before her Assumption, Mary could only be close to some. Now she is close to you and to me. She listens to us and always intercedes for us to her Son.

Every Gift Makes a Difference