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God’s temple in heaven was opened,
and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.
A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
Today we celebrate the day when Mary, the ark of the New Covenant, at the end of her earthly life was taken up into heaven. Before this event, her son Jesus Christ had become the firstfruits of those who would be raised up. He was the new Adam whose flesh did not see corruption. Mary too was a kind of firstfruits, an initial portion demonstrating the blessings intended by God for all of his people. Although, unlike their flesh, ours will likely see corruption, the destination of our journey is the same as theirs. Our bodies are sown corruptible but they will be raised incorruptible (see First Corinthians 15:42). We all may one day hope to stand in the presence of the Holy One, just as Mary does now.
We should not be surprised that the one who gave us the commandment about honoring father and mother would choose to honor his mother in this way. It was not unheard of in the history of Israel. Enoch had apparently be taken up, as had Elijah. The bible speaks of a dispute over the body of Moses (see Jude 1:9) and there is at least the possibility that he too was assumed into heaven, though after his death and burial.
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
During the earthly life of Mary she brought joy to those into whose presence she came. We see instances of this when she brought joy to Elizabeth and the yet unborn John the Baptist and when she interceded with her son for the wedding at Cana. We can be confident that this was her the usual result of her presence, as it continued to be true in the apparitions of her presence that have marked history even to our own day. Further, it appeared that being assumed into heaven wasn't the end of her mission. It wasn't when her life went from being a theo-drama focused on mission to a quietist life oriented only toward worship. Rather, even now her mission continues to be focused on spreading love and devotion for her son. She continues to proclaim her Magnificat, inviting more and more generations to join her song of praise.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
Mary was the perfect vessel to bring the presence of the Son of God into the world because she cooperated with grace in order to believe that what was spoken to her by the Lord would be fulfilled. Zechariah showed the more normal and merely human response to such a situation when he chose instead to doubt. Mary is exulted at the right have of God to help us have the assurance that we too can trust him as she first trusted him. We too can give our fiat, since we can see and celebrate how that worked out for her. She herself said that these blessings she received were never meant to be hers alone.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
Can we perceive in the Magnificat the prayer of a mother? It is the pedagogical strategy designed to teach us to see reality with the eyes of faith and trust that first defined her own life. We tend to gloss over the Magnificat as one more pious canticle that is impossible to connect to life in our complicated and troubled modern world. But Mary's world was also highly complicated and troubled. The things she said and the praises she spoke would likely have made less devout contemporaries ask, 'Really?'. But to this she would have responded, 'Yes, really. Just have faith'. And so she is more than able to make a similarly persuasive invitation to us as well. God is faithful, and the promise of mercy he remembered in the case of Mary is a promise he can never forget.
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.
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