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Sunday, August 18, 2024

Assuming Power



Sermon for the Sunday in the octave of the Assumption preached at the Cathedral Church of St Augustine of Canterbury 

You have every reason to think  
that the church had got  
the wrong Mary.  

Today we celebrate  
the Sunday in the octave  
of the Assumption of Our Lady,  
the Blessed Virgin Mary,  
Our Lord's Mother.  

But the Gospel reading concerns  
Martha and Mary  
- that's Mary Magdalene,  
not Our Lady.

There are so many Marys,  
so maybe the writers of the Missal  
got confused.  

But it's the same in the Breviary,  
the Roman Missal  
and the Sarum Missal.  
Clearly the Church  
has something to say  
about Our Lady's Assumption  
through how Our Lord  
treats Martha and Mary.

The cynical might say  
that it’s because  
the Assumption of Our Lady  
is not in the Bible  
that we've had to make-do.  
Indeed,  
there are many people  
who say,  
for that reason alone,  
it didn’t happen  
and that we are fools to believe it.

[PAUSE]

But there are facts  
that cannot be ignored.  
There are no relics of her body  
anywhere.  
Given how  
the Church has carefully curated  
the bodies of all the saints,  
how is it possible  
that Our Lady's body  
is missing from reliquaries  
the world over.

It's also the that,  
after a brief mention in the Acts,  
she simply disappears.  
She probably goes  
with St John to Ephesus  
since Jesus tells him  
from the cross
to look after her.
 
But there is no record of her.  
Some people think  
she is the woman  
clothed in the Sun  
in the Revelation,  
and it's hard not to draw  
that conclusion,
even though it can have
other meanings.
But there are no Acts of Mary;  
no indication of a ministry of any kind.  
There is certainly  
no record of her celebrating the Mass.
Even if she is the Mother of God,
she is not a priest.
She does nothing!

[PAUSE]

And now we see  
why the Church has given us  
this episode of the Gospel.  
St Mary Magdalene  
sits quietly  
at the feet of Our Lord  
and listens to Him  
while Martha is concerned  
with the affairs of this life.

St Mary Magdalene  
reflects Our Lady  
by devoting her attention  
solely to Jesus.  
There is nothing that  
she needs to do  
other than think of Him.  
And what a life Our Lady reflects on!
No one else has  
carried God in her womb.  
No one else has  
nursed Him,  
bathed Him,  
clothed Him,  
helped Him learn  
to walk and talk.  
No one else has  
seen their child grow  
into a man who  
commands the power  
of Almighty God Himself
and yet never forgets His mother.

She probably gives  
St Matthew and St Luke  
information about Our Lord's birth  
for the Gospels  
and we are told that  
she treasures up the memories  
of Our Lord
in her heart.

It's not that God has  
no use for her after  
He ascends into Heaven.  
It's that her ministry  
is a ministry of being,  
not doing.  
To be a mother  
is a ministry of relationship,  
of just being present  
having brought a child  
into the world.  
Just as a small child  
is comforted by his mother  
simply being there.  
So are we comforted  
by the presence of Our Lady.  
Wherever she is, He is.

[PAUSE]

This is the power  
of Our lady's Assumption.  

She is taken into Heaven  
in a unique way  
because she is unique.  
In being assumed,  
Our Lady shows us  
the love of Our Lord  
for His mother  
by keeping His own commandment  
to honour His Father and His mother.
Her ministry to us  
is to be His mother:  
she need do nothing else.  
She founds no Church  
because she presents her son  
to every Church that loves her.  
She writes no Gospel,  
because the Lord has  
written His Gospel on her very being.  
She does not die  
the glorious death of a martyr,  
because the crucifixion of her Son  
already makes her a martyr.  

She leaves behind  
no relic of her body  
because her Son wants us  
to see her incorrupt  
and remind us  
that we too will be incorruptible.

[PAUSE]

She leaves behind  
no relic of her body,  
but what of other relics?  
Her veil perhaps?  
Here, in this building,  
we have a reminder  
not only of Our Lady's existence,  
but also of her presence.  
And Our Lady's existence  
points to Our Lord's existence.  
Our Lady's presence  
points to Our Lord's presence.  

It means we can be sure,  
every time we enter this holy place,  
that we are in the company  
of Our Lady and Our Lord.

[PAUSE]

The Church reminds us  
of Mary and Martha  
on the feast of the Assumption  
so that we remember  
to be Christians  
and to live as Christians  
at the feet of Christ  
rather than be ruled  
by the cares of this world.  
God is with us  
as He is with his Mother.  
Nothing else  
has any greater  
claim on our lives.

Nothing else  
will give us any  
greater joy  
than being with  
them both in Eternity.

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