The Assumption of Mary into Heaven

by Father William G. Most
Evidence for the Assumption

There had been a problem of how the Pope could define the Assumption. There seemed to be nothing in Scripture on it, and what things there were in the Tradition of the Fathers seemed to come not from an apostolic origin, but from some apocryphal stories that circulated chiefly beginning in the fourth century.
A Pope is not required to specify precisely where in the sources of revelation he finds a given doctrine. Yet, those documents often do review various things that at least in a way seem to support the teaching. We see an example of this in the Bull Ineffabilis Deus in which Pius IX defined the Immaculate Conception.
One thought that was clearly in the mind of Pius XII was the principle of consortium--that Mary was "always sharing His [Christ's] lot" (AAS 42. 768).
In line with this, Pope Pius showed the relation of the Assumption to the Immaculate Conception: "For these two privileges are most closely related to each other. Christ has overcome sin and death by His own death; and one who is reborn in a heavenly way through baptism has, through Christ Himself, conquered sin and death. However, in accord with His general rule, God does not wish to grant the full effect of victory over death to the just until the end of time shall have come.... Yet God wished that the Blessed Virgin Mary be exempt from this general law. For she, by a completely singular privilege, conquered sin in her Immaculate Conception, and thus was not liable to that law of remaining in the corruption of the grave, nor did she have to wait for the end of time for the redemption of her body" (AAS 42. 754).
Pius XII next said he had asked the opinions of all the Bishops of the world on the Assumption. Their response was almost unanimous in the affirmative. The universal teaching of the authorities of the Church by itself, he tells us, gives us a proof (Cf. Lumen gentium ## 25 and 12).
He next reviewed some of the outstanding statements of Tradition throughout all the centuries. This teaching is found at a very early date in the liturgical books. After the patristic age, the same doctrine was studied in detail by scholastic theologians. For example, the Pope quotes the words of St. Bernardine of Siena who "... gathered up and carefully treated everything that medieval theologians had said and discussed on this matter. He was not satisfied to repeat the chief considerations which doctors of previous times had already proposed, but added others of his own. For the likeness of the Mother of God and the Divine Son in regard to nobility of soul and body--a likeness which forbids the very thought that the heavenly Queen should be separated from the heavenly King--absolutely demands that Mary 'must not be anywhere but where Christ is.' And furthermore, it is reasonable and fitting that not only the soul and body of a man, but also the soul and body of a woman should have already attained heavenly glory. Finally, since the Church has never sought for bodily relics of the Blessed Virgin, nor exposed them for the veneration of the faithful, we have an argument which can be considered as 'practically a proof by sensory experience'" (AAS 42. 765-66).
He then speaks of St. Francis de Sales, who "after stating that it would be wrong to doubt that Jesus Christ has kept in the most perfect way the divine commandment that children honor their parents, puts this question: 'What son, if he could, would not bring his mother back to life, and take her, after death, into paradise?'"(AAS 42. 766).
We have given only a sample of the great review of earlier teachings given in the Munificentissimus Deus. After this survey, the Pope sums up: "All these arguments and considerations of the Holy Fathers rest on the Sacred Writings as their ultimate foundation. These place the revered Mother of God as it were before our eyes, as most closely joined to her Divine Son, and always sharing in His lot. Hence it seems practically impossible to think of her who conceived Christ, brought Him forth, gave Him milk, held Him in her hands and pressed Him to her heart as being separated from Him after this earthly life in body, even though not in soul" (AAS 42. 767-68).
The Key to the Doctrine
But it seems that the precise ground for the definition is in the following passage just before the definition: "We must remember especially that, since the second century, the Virgin Mary has been presented by the Holy Fathers as the New Eve, who, although subject to the New Adam, was most closely associated with Him in that struggle against the infernal enemy which, as foretold in the protoevangelium, was to result in that most complete victory over sin and death, which are always correlated in the writings of the Apostle of the Gentiles. Wherefore, just as the glorious resurrection of Christ was an essential part and final sign of this victory, so also that struggle which was common to the Blessed Virgin and her Son had to be closed by the 'glorification' of her virginal body" (AAS 42. 768).
The thought is brilliant. The Pope first recalled the New Eve theme, which we have seen. Then he focused on the fact, within that theme, that the New Eve had been closely associated with the New Adam in the struggle against sin and death. Still further, in the case of her Son, that struggle had brought glorification. Since the struggle was in common to both, then a common cause would have a common effect: it had to bring a parallel glorification to her, the Assumption.
Pius XII carefully refrained from saying in his own words at any point that she died. Some, even a few of the Fathers, had denied that she ever died, basing this on the fact that death was the result of original sin, which she lacked. However, because as Pius XII also said, she was "always sharing His lot," for this reason, likeness to Him, it seems much more probable that she did die.

Nineteenth Sunday of the Year

(9/8/2008)

Jesus walk on the water

The theme of today’s gospel is about our trust in the Lord who cares for us. Both Jesus and Peter walk on the water, but Peter begins to sink when he becomes aware of threatening waves. Jesus walks on the water and invites Peter to come to him. But then Peter was afraid and began to sink. At first Peter was confidence to move from the boat and coming to Jesus walking on the water but he was threaten by the waves so he was afraid. Jesus said to him, 'you man of little faith. Why did you doubt?' Peter was saved by Jesus at the moment he cried out for help.

The message of today is about trusting God. Faith is needed as we journey across the water of our life. Faith in Christ is real and deep means trusting God all the way. It’s like giving up all human resources and putting one’s life and future entirely in God’s hands. We may never lose sight of the fact that the one in whom we place our trust is the Lord who loves and cares for us as only God can love and care.

A boat riding the stormy waves is the image of the Church riding the stormy waves of history. The Church is the people of God. We are the Church and we are constantly being threatened by every possible influence, good and bad, in every age. From the beginning the Church experienced all kind of difficult situation. What about us? In our personal journey of faith, there are times when we experience walking on the water. There is a moment when we feel confidence of our faith. After receiving the sacrament of baptism for example, we feel like walking on water with Jesus. The moment of weeding or the blessing of marriage for instance, you may feel the warmest love from each other. But when honeymoon is over thing began to change. There are times when we come across the water on the of temptations, sorrows, difficult decisions, infidelity of our promise as marriage life and all these difficult circumstances is just like walking across the trouble water. For this we need to walk on faith. We need to leave the boat of our selfishness, the boat of our old life and start walking towards Jesus again.

Recall the details of today’s gospel. Jesus has not abandoned his ship. He’s simply been up on the mountain praying for his flock and today he is walking on the waves, coming to the ship. Get hold of yourselves! It is I. Do not be afraid! In other words, trust in me and in my promises that I will be with you till the end of time.

There are times in our lives when the waves of misfortune, sickness, family tragedy, seem about engulf us. There are times when our Christian faith is deeply tried and we feel like giving up in despair. Then it is that Jesus, who loves us more than we will ever know, says to us: Why are you faltering? I am with you always. Do not be afraid. Then it is time for an act of faith and trust, raising from the depths of our hearts: I hope in the Lord, I trust in his word (Alleluia verse)

The first reading reminds us to listen to God who is present every moment. Elijah hears the Lord’s voice, not in any of nature spectacular manifestations but in a tiny, whispering sound.
There was a story of a sea captain. He is an old captain in his retirement. One day he decided to take one day trip to one of the Island. On one day trip the boat was full of young people. These laughed at the old captain when they say him saying a prayer before setting out, for the day was fine and the sea calm. But when out at the sea a storm suddenly blew up, and the boat began to rock n roll violently, the terrified passengers came to the captain and asked him in prayer. But he replied: ‘ I say my prayers when it’s calm. When it’s rough, I attend to my ship’. There is a lesson here for us. If we cannot or will not seek God in the quiet moments of our lives, we are likely to find him when trouble strikes. We are more likely to panic. But if we have learnt to seek him and trust him in the quiets moments, then most certainly we will find him when the going gets rough.

And finally the second reading, st Paul tells us that he would risk any calamity for the sake of his own people. For those of us who are strong we need to help one another. Perhaps there are people around us who need our hand. We need to be the hand of Jesus for one another. As we come to Jesus in the Eucharist, let us humbly as him to increase our faith and hope that we may become stronger than ever to face and to cross the 'trouble water' of life.

A pilgrimage to St. Anne Penang, Malaysia

Half of million of people visited Bukit Mertajam, St. Anne during the Feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne recently. In our trip we had about 300 participant from the land below the wind, Sabah East Malaysia.

Pictured by: Hilary Majanggon of Penampang Sabah

They All Ate and Were Satisfied

Gospel Commentary for 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time(August 3)
By Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap

ROME, JULY 31, 2008 (Zenit.org).- One day Jesus was on his way to a solitary place along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The Gospel of Matthew tells the story: “But when he disembarked he found that a large crowd was waiting for him. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick."When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, ‘This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.’"Jesus said to them, ‘There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.’ But they said to him, ‘Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.’"Then he said, ‘Bring them here to me,’ and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.

Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds."They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over -- twelve wicker baskets full. Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.”It was the most joyous picnic in the history of the world!What does this Gospel tell us? First, that Jesus was worried and “his heart was moved with pity” for the whole man, body and soul. He distributes the word to the soul, and to the body he offers healing and food. You will say: So why doesn’t he still do that today? Why doesn’t he multiply bread for the many millions who are starving on the earth?

There is a detail in this Gospel that can help us to find the answer to these questions. Jesus does not snap his fingers and bread and fish appear magically at will. He asked his disciples what they had; he invited them to share what they had: five loaves of bread and two fish.Jesus does the same today. He asks us to share the resources of the earth. It is well known, at least in regard to food, that our earth would be able to support more than a billion more people than presently inhabit the earth.So how can we accuse God of not furnishing enough bread for everyone when every year we destroy millions of tons of food supplies -- which we say we have “too much” of -- so as to prevent food prices from falling? What is the solution?

Better distribution, greater solidarity and more sharing.I know, it’s not that easy. There is the mania for weapons, there are irresponsible government leaders who keep many people hungry. But part of the responsibility is on the shoulders of the rich countries. We are that anonymous person -- a boy, according to one of the evangelists -- who has five loaves of bread and two fish; it is only that we hold onto them and are careful with them lest they be shared with everyone.Because of the way in which it is described -- “Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples" -- the multiplication of the loaves and fish has always made us think of the multiplication of that other bread, which is the body of Christ.

For this reason the most antique representations of the Eucharist are of a basket containing loaves of bread and, on the sides, two fish, like the mosaic discovered in Tabga in Palestine, in the church erected on the site of the multiplication of the loaves, or in the famous fresco in the catacombs of Priscilla.At bottom, even that which we are doing in this moment with this commentary is a multiplication of loaves -- the loaves of bread of the word of God. I have broken open the bread of the word and the Internet has multiplied my words -- but many more than 5,000 men, even this time, have eaten and are satisfied.

There remains this task: “picking up the fragments left over,” and bringing them also to those who did not participate in the banquet. We must be “repeaters” and witnesses of the message.[Translation by ZENIT]

Olympic link to early 'computer'

BBC News

A 2,100-year-old "computer" found in a Roman shipwreck may have acted as a calendar for the Olympic Games, scientists report in Nature journal.
The Antikythera Mechanism has puzzled experts since its discovery by Greek sponge divers in 1901.
Researchers have long suspected the ancient clockwork device was used to display astronomical cycles.
A team has now found that one of the dials records the dates of the ancient Olympiad.
This could have been to provide a benchmark for the passage of time.
The device is made up of bronze gearwheels and dials, and scientists know of nothing like it until at least 1,000 years later.
Social importance
Tony Freeth, a member of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, said he was "astonished" at the discovery.
"The Olympiad cycle was a very simple, four-year cycle and you don't need a sophisticated instrument like this to calculate it. It took us by huge surprise when we saw this.
"But the Games were of such cultural and social importance that it's not unnatural to have it in the Mechanism."
The technique of X-ray computed tomography gave the researchers a 3D view of its 29 surviving gears. High-resolution imaging provided them with a close-up of tiny letters engraved on the surface.
The device's "subsidiary dial" was once thought to be a 76-year "callippic" calendar.
However, Mr Freeth and his colleagues have now been able to establish from its inscriptions that it displays the 4-year Olympiad cycle.
Instead of one Olympics as there is today, the ancient Olympiads, called the Panhellenic Games, comprised four games spread over four years.
'Eureka' moment
The four sectors of the dial are inscribed with a year number and two Panhellenic Games: the "crown" games of Isthmia, Olympia, Nemea and Pythia; and two lesser games: Naa (held at Dodona) and a second game which has not yet been deciphered.
In addition, the team was able to identify the names of all 12 months, which belong to the Corinthian family of months.
Corinth, in central Greece, established colonies in north-western Greece, Corfu and Sicily, where Archimedes was established.
Archimedes, whose list of exploits included an explanation for the displacement of water and a screw pump that bears his name today, died there in 212 BC.
The Antikythera Mechanism was "almost certainly made many decades" after his death, according to Alexander Jones, a professor at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World in New York, US.
If it came from Syracuse, the dial could have been made by the school of scientists and instrument-makers he inspired.
The priceless artefact was found by a sponge diver amid other treasures on a wreck near the tiny island of Antikythera between Crete and the mainland. It is on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.