Transcript of Abbot Clement=s Homily for the Assumption, Sunday, August 15, 2004
It is clear that the church wants us to reflect on the mystery of the Assumption by the text of today
=s liturgy. The gospel itself reminds us of the Visitation when Elizabeth proclaims: ABlessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb and blessed are you who believe that the word spoken to you by the Lord will be fulfilled.@The first thing we see in this mystery is the tremendous faith the Blessed Mother has. Her faith was so strong and deep that it really is the base of our salvation. It was because of her faith that salvation began and became a reality when the Word became flesh in her womb. Her response to it is also contained in today
=s gospel. She says: AThe Almighty has done great things for me.@ She is aware that God=s action in her is powerful and effective. The first aspect of this feast is to remind us of the tremendous faith of the Blessed Mother and its richness and her own praise of God for it.The second point is found in the first reading, which is a battle between the church and Satan. The church in the Old Testament, Israel, that prepares for the Messiah to come and the unique figure for which that happens is Mary herself. So she is showing victory over the constant battle of Satan to draw people away from God and God
=s glory.This feast reminds us of the tremendous power of God
=s grace to overcome evil and Satan. The epistle reminds us that Christ rose from the dead, is in glory, and he is the first fruit of those in eternal life. Those who believe in Him will follow the same path after him in proper order, as Paul says. Which means the power of the redemption is capable of bringing us life and Mary now has the first fruit of that after Christ himself, who is the first fruit.Then we have the responsorial: The Queen stands next to Jesus arrayed in gold. That she is reigning in glory with her Son and participates in the Divine life in all its fullness. Now, if we take those themes by themselves, each one of us here, if we really let it in, would like to redo lauds again. I
=m sure you would all be anxious to do so because you would really praise and acknowledge the tremendous work that God has accomplished in the mystery of the Blessed Mother and the great work of redemption that the Son of God should become flesh and redeem us and bring us to victory. Now we could spend a whole day just responding to that from that point of view. But to me the first real challenge of this feast is you too are called by God to glory.You and I, as said in the epistle to the Ephesians, Chapter 2:10:
AWe are the handiwork of God created in Christ from the foundation of the world to do those good works that God has planned for us to do.@ Each of us is on that journey. The question is where are you going now? What kind of person are you becoming? Who are you becoming? Where is the path you are following now? Which means we have to look at then the relationship of you and your struggle with Satan. Where is the victory in your life of Satan at this point? After all every time the Lord moves us forward, as someone said, comment to Paul=s epistle for the Corinthians, a new life means a new devil. A new level a new devil.In other words, every time we grow more deeply there
=s more attacks on us because Satan doesn=t want us to get closer to God. So what is the struggle that you=re having? Is it Satan at this point in your life and are you victorious? The epistle is telling us of Christ=s victory over death but the real problem of death is sin. The fruit of sin is death. So it=s really a question of overcoming sin. Where is the struggle in your life with sin and how are you overcoming it? The positive side: the Lord shares his life in its fullness with Mary as we celebrate today. That life is available to us now. How are we growing in that life?Perhaps the last reflection that we really should pause and think about is what it would be like when we get to heaven and discover ourselves clothe in glory. No longer worried about the passing of time, no longer trials, no longer difficulties, positively fullness of life and looking at God, praising, thanking and just standing in awe of the great gift of this life. It
=s important for us to do this because if we loose the vision of our goal we parish.