Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 8/15/23 The Assumption

Episode Date: August 15, 2023

Homily from the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mary is the New Ark of the New Covenant. It is fitting that Mary was assumed into Heaven since she is the fulfillment of the Ark in the Old Covenant.Mass Readings from August 15, 2023:Revelation 11:19A; 12:1-6A, 10ABPsalm 45:10, 11, 12, 161 Corinthians 15:20-27 Luke 1:39-56

Welcome to Sunday homilies with me, Father Mike Schmitz. I hope today's homily inspires and motivates you, and I also hope that it leaves you hungry for the one who gave everything to feed you. If you want to get this in other Sunday Mass resources sent straight to your inbox, sign up at ascensionpress.com slash Sunday, or by texting Sunday to 33777. You can also follow or subscribe on your podcast app for weekly notifications. God bless.

The Lord be with you. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke. Chapter 1, verse 39 through 56. Mary sat out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said,

Blessed are you among women? And blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled. And Mary said, My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, for he has looked upon his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed.

The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm. He has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel, for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever.

Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home. the gospel of the Lord. Praise to Lord Jesus Christ. So just a couple quick thoughts on the Feast of the Assumption. One of the things is we recognize that sometimes our non-Catholic Christian brothers and sisters will sometimes have questions. I'll say it like that, questions about how it is

that we celebrate this feast, this belief, how we have this dogma that was declared in 1950 that at the end of her life on earth, Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven. And the question is, not only where do you get this, the question is why? What's the point of this whole thing? And how does it relate to salvation?

How does it relate to everything? Well, as I mentioned in the beginning of Mass, what we believe about Mary is always a reflection, an extension of what we believe about Jesus. So we believe that Mary is the mother of God. Well, that's not because we're trying to exalt Mary, but because we're saying that Jesus, when he was incarnate,

he was fully God and fully man from the first moment of his conception. And so if Mary is the mother of Jesus, Jesus is one divine person with a divine nature and a human nature. So Mary's clearly the mother of God in that sense, right? Not from all eternity, but in time. And so it's a statement about what we believe about Jesus. And so is the assumption. The assumption that at the end of her life on earth,

God himself did something incredible. And this is the key. This feast day today, this holy day of obligation, where the church says, okay, stop in the middle of August and just go to church and worship. Why? Mary? No, not worship Mary, but worship the God who did something amazing in and with Mary. Why? Well, A, because it's worth it to stop and acknowledge what God has done in our lives. Too often, we don't acknowledge what God has done. Too often we just take the day for granted. Too often we just take the gifts that God has given us for granted. So we need to stop and acknowledge them,

but also to worship God because we recognize this is what he wants to do with us as well. What he's already done with Mary, he wants to do with us. So that's the goal. The goal at this day is all about God. What God has done and what God wants to do. What God has done with Mary and what God wants to do with you. So why would, why would God do this and where would we get this in Scripture? Well, it all comes back to a couple of things. A, I mentioned that Pope Pius the 12th in 1950 he had declared this dogma, but it wasn't invented in the 20th century. This goes all the way back to the beginning centuries of Christianity, that all Christians had held this, not only that Mary was assumed into heaven, but also that there was some debate about it, but also that Mary was considered

to be the Ark of the Covenant. In fact, the New Ark of the Covenant. And this is really important. Why? Well, because if Mary is the New Ark of the Covenant, the Ark of the Covenant, dwells in God's presence, dwells in the very presence of God for all eternity. So the first reading today from the book of Revelation chapter 12. And what happens is here's John and he's in heaven and he sees in heaven what has been lost to the Jewish people, what's been lost to history for hundreds of years by this point. He sees the Ark of the Covenant. They're in heaven, in the presence of God.

The very next sentence is, I saw a woman, crowned stars for her head, called it the sun, and under her feet standing on the moon. This image of the Ark of the Covenant becomes an image of our lady in heaven. But it's not just Revelation 11 and 12. This actually goes all the way back to the book of Samuel when they actually had the Ark of the Covenant.

In fact, one of the reasons why Luke wrote his gospel, the way he wrote his gospel, is to highlight the fact that from the very beginning, I mean, this is from the time of the Apostles, the time the Gospels are being written, those early Christians already saw Mary as the new arc of the new covenant. What do I mean?

Well, here we have Archangel Gabriel, who appears to Mary in Luke chapter 1, verse 35. And he says, the power of the most high will overshadow you. And that word to overshadow is a Greek word that is also used in the book of Exodus chapter 40. We talked about the glory cloud that overshadowed what, overshadowed the tent of meeting, overshadowed the ark of the covenant back in Exodus chapter 40. The exact same Greek word, Luke is using that word intentionally. He's using that word on purpose because they knew.

They knew Mary is the new ark of the covenant and the Holy Spirit overshadowed her in the same way that the Holy Spirit overshadowed the Ark of the Covenant in Exodus chapter 40. It goes on. You know, Luke says that Mary. arose and went in haste to the hill country of Judah to greet it Elizabeth. That's Luke chapter 1 verse 39. Well, if you remember back in 2nd Samuel chapter 6, at one point the Ark of the Covenant is where?

It's in the Hill Country of Judea. And what does David do? It says very clearly, David arose and went to the hill country of Judah. To do what? To go to the Ark of the Covenant. So Mary arose and went to the Hill Country of Judah. David arose and went to the Hill Country of Judah for the Ark of the Covenant. Elizabeth, we just heard this story in Luke Chapter 1.

verse 43. Elizabeth says what? She says, who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Which is an incredible honor, right? It's an incredible act of humility on Elizabeth's part, but it also is an echo of 2nd Samuel. Because David, when he approached the ark, he said, who am I, that the ark of my lord should come to me? And that for a next connection is what happened when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting in her ears. Elizabeth said that the infant in my womb leaped for joy. When David was in front of the Ark of the Covenant in Second Samuel, what does he do? He went before the Ark leaping and dancing for joy.

And lastly, it says that Mary remained in the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth for three months. Now, Luke could have just written, he could have said, that Mary remained in the House of Elizabeth and Zechariah until John was born. But he didn't. He specifically noted she spent the first. there three months. She spent three months there. Why? Well, because in 2nd Samuel chapter 6, verse 11, the Ark of the Covenant abided in the home of Obed Edom, the Gittite for three months in the hill country of Judah. So all of these connections. So you

know this from the very, very beginning, how beginning? The Gospel of Luke beginning. From the very beginning of Christians existing, Christians saw Mary as the new Ark of the Covenant so that when John looks into heaven in Revelation, chapter 11, in chapter 12, and he sees the ark of the covenant and that becomes the image of our lady, all those early Christians are like, yes, that's what happened to her. In fact, the tradition, of course, is that John, the beloved, right? John who actually saw into heaven in the book of Revelation, that he was the one who from the cross Jesus had said, John, that's your mother.

And to his mom, woman, that's your son. That he took her into his home. and so fitting and so powerful and so beautiful that John would be the one to see the destiny of Mary that John would be the one who saw her in heaven. Again, after he had cared for her the rest of her life on earth

until she was assumed in heaven, the first one to see Mary with his own eyes was John with this vision of heaven, seeing Mary there. Now, again, just kind of hammered the last nail home is the recognition that what was inside the Ark of the Covenant? This is really, really fascinating.

In the Ark of the Old Covenant, there were three things, three elements. And it seems like one of those things where all of our students here know these three elements. Like the three things that were in the Old Ark of the Covenant were tablets, right, that of the commandments, was the manna that they found, you know,

that fed the Jewish people as they wandered through the desert. And Aaron's staff, right? Remember Aaron, the high priest. So you have the word, you have the staff of the high priest, and you have the bread from heaven. Well, Mary, when she conceived Jesus by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, dwelling in her was what?

Well, was the word made flesh. Dwelling in her was the great high priest, Jesus. Dwelling in her was the true bread from heaven. This recognition that this is not out of the blue, this is not unscriptural, it's not anti-Scripture, but this comes directly from scripture and from the tradition of the church that at the end of her life, God assumed marrying to heaven. So what does it matter?

What does it matter to us? Well, it matters because of this. It matters A, because it happened. And B, because God wants to share his goodness. You know, Paul writing today, he says, Jesus is the first fruits, those who have fallen asleep. And what he's saying in that, he's saying, what's happened to Jesus, God wants to happen to you.

What happened to Jesus in conquering death and being raised up to heaven, body and soul, he's the first fruits. What happened in his life, God wants to happen in your life. And so on this day where we're just like, well, yeah, we have to go to Mass. And here we are in this Mass online. What we're doing right now is are stopping and realizing, okay, what God has done in Jesus, what God has done for Mary, he also wants to do for you.

That the destiny of your body, the destiny of your soul, is that God wants you and I to dwell in heaven, body and soul for all eternity. because God is so good, that God is so generous, that God loves you so much that he didn't just say, I want to give you a lifespan of 20 years or 60 years or 70 years or 100 years. He says, after that, at the end of that lifespan, whether that's two years or two months, two minutes, or 103 years, at the end of that life on earth, God's will for you. And God's will for me is that he takes us to himself. and he's done that with Mary.

And he wants to do that with you. It's what did Mary have to do. As we've often said, all she had to do is say yes. And that's what you and I are called to do as well. All we're called to do is say yes. God himself will do the rest.