Homily — Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady
Speaking of Our Lady’s assumption into heaven, Saint Bernard says, “This is a precious gift that our earth today has presented to heaven: thus, by this exchange, human realities are united to divine realities, the earthly to the heavenly, those from below to those on high, in a happy pact of friendship.” (St. Bernard, First Sermon on the Assumption.)
In this exchange, the earth has offered its most sublime fruit and then from there descend upon us the most perfect gifts, “come down from the Father of lights.”
Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption along with the rest of Church, but in a manner that is particularly special for us because, because for us Cistercians it is the patronal feast of our Order. Today’s feast, therefore, says something very important about who we are, about our place in the Church, and about our relationship with the Church and the world we live in.
There are various ways to approach the meaning of this feast both for the early Cistercians of the twelfth century and for us today, but the one that stuck out to me is the one expressed in the quote from St. Bernard that I opened with: Mary’s Assumption understood as an exchange between God and man, the earthly and the heavenly, as a ‘happy pact of friendship’ that unites human realities and divine realities.
St. Bernard’s First Sermon on the Assumption highlights the joy that accompanies this “happy pact of friendship” He opens by saying that “today, as the Virgin ascends in glory to the heavens, she has undoubtedly brought the joy of the citizens on high to its peak.” This assertion in itself tells us something of the importance of the feast for the early Cistercians. The citizens of heaven have seen many marvels, the Incarnation, the Cross and Resurrection, the Ascension and the Sending of the Spirit, but this one brings them to the peak of joy. For in Mary assumed into heaven we see the fruits of all the divine and human efforts that went before, The call of Abraham, of Moses, the formation of the People of God and the giving of the Law and the establishment of the Covenant, the obedience of the Prophets, the struggles of the holy remnant following the exile.
The citizens on high know the desire of the Son to unite himself to his creature in order bring the fallen human race back to the Father and the whole of creation with it. How he willingly handed himself over in order that he might present himself the Church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle…such that she might be holy and without blemish (Eph)
In the assumption of the Holy Virgin we have the divine hopes of the Holy Trinity and the hopes of longsuffering Israel fulfilled. On this day the earth indeed presents to God its most beautiful fruit, the most complete response to the grace of God, offered not only once but consistently over the course of an entire lifetime, from her immaculate conception to her holy death.
The citizens on high have the clarity of vision and purity of heart that belong to their state. They see the full significance of this event, in a way that is closed to us who still remain tied to earthly realities and the effects of sin. For “at present, we see indistinctly, as in a mirror”, only in the next world will we see “face to face” (1 Cor 13:12).
The fulness of the heavenly joy may lie beyond us, but the divine grace has given us a share in it, we are partakers of it. If we open ourselves to it, we allow their surpassing joy to spill over onto us and fill our hearts.
For as St. Paul tells the Philippians, even now “our citizenship is in heaven”. And to the Ephesians: “we are no longer strangers and sojourners, but…fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God.
As Cistercians, we have a special mission to live this mystery of heavenly citizenship in a concrete way, that is specific to us and made possible by our separation from the world, silence, humility, obedience and manual work.
We are called to live from this reality that, “God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, raised us up with [Christ] and seated us with him in the heavens.”
Therefore, he says to the Colossians, “seek what is above. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
We “seek what is above” when we seek to participate in what Bernard calls the twofold welcome that he says we celebrate today. The first welcome was when Mary welcomed the Son into her womb upon her yes to the word of the angel. Today is the second welcome, when the Son returns the gift by welcoming his mother into heaven and establishes her as Queen.
When we welcome Christ into our hearts we welcome him to undertake the process of “changing our lowly body to conform with his glorified body.”
We grant him welcome when we “put to death, the parts of us that are earthly [which he lists as] immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry.
When, as “God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved”, we follow Paul’s list of virtues and “put on the new man”: “heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience”, when we “bear with one another and forgive one another…
Today we celebrate not only Mary as model but as spiritual mother. It is only with the mystery of the Assumption that she is able to take on fully the role granted her under the Cross. From her place seated on high with Christ she has now been granted the grace to act freely from her complete union with the will and mind of her Son to bestow gifts on us that only flow from the will of the Father but bear with them all the experience she herself gained in her earthly journey and contain the wisdom of heaven.
As her spiritual children, she loves us as only a mother can. She knows our needs and how to respond to them. We are never alone in our struggles and trials, we are never abandoned, but we have her as our companion and guide, along with Holy Spirit.
So with great joy and in the name of the whole earth, let us in our hearts present the gift of the Holy Virgin to our God and Father as we celebrate the gift of his Son in this Holy Eucharist.
