ASSUMED

 

ASSUMED

For centuries we have examined old truths in new ways. The facts about Mary, the mother of Jesus, are there in the gospels and the consensus of the Christian community has drawn them out over two thousand years. Catholics are often perceived as holding exaggerated beliefs about Mary but they would respond they have added nothing that is not implicit in the tradition.

In 1950, Pope Pius XII proclaimed that Mary, after her death, was ‘assumed’ into heaven body and soul. Many Christians who were not Catholics could see no sense in this definition but the pope had his reasons. First, there was a long tradition in the oriental as well as the western church of celebrating this feast as the principal one for Mary. Second, the mention of the body, as well as the soul, was an affirmation of the dignity of the human body so desecrated during the horrors of World War II. The ‘resurrection of the body’ appears as a belief in the oldest creeds.

And thirdly, mention of the body is a deliberate affirmation of human creativity. Yes, God made us ‘in his own image and likeness’ but he depended on human wombs to bring us forth.  And it is not just human life that we have a hand in fashioning; there is also all that we mean by culture. The celebration of the Assumption of Mary is a celebration of the way different groups of people have developed their own customs and beliefs, their own languages and music – all that goes to make up the genius of a people.

South African Jesuit Xolile Keteyi, who died aged 41 in 1994, was passionate about the link between the way the gospel was preached and the culture of the people of his country:

The Good News becomes part of the culture when it is expressed, and its fundamental truths are embodied, in local categories and concepts, symbols, ritual and language. But much more it become part of the culture when it is linked to the intrinsic dimension of culture that sustains human dignity and development.  

I put the word ‘embodied’ in italics as it echoes the purpose of this celebration of the Assumption of Mary. It is a celebration of the body, that astonishing reality that incarnates our life, our growth, our relationships – and our suffering and death. God assumed our humanity when the Word became flesh. He also assumed the culture, rituals and language of the Jewish people. It was through them that he announced his message of the kingdom. The Church has to assume the culture of people in depth if she is to reach their hearts – and not simply be a superficial identity wheeled out when needed.

15 August 2024    The Assumption of Mary      Rev 11:19; 12:1…10       1 Cor 15:20-26       Lk 1:39-56