Mysteries Of Gloryনমুনা

The Assumption of Mary

Our fourth mystery to ponder is much more contentious than the preceding three.

The tradition of the very early Church was that after Mary died, her tomb was found to be empty. But unlike the empty tomb of Jesus, Mary is not considered to have been resurrected, but simply assumed into heaven, body and soul.

That is to say taken to be with God without delay at the end of her life on earth.

We have no neat and tidy verse from the Bible to collaborate this, but it is what our predecessors believed and passed on to us. As we have no evidence to the contrary, we must judge the story by how truthful and trustworthy we believe the early Church Fathers to be.

We can, however, consider the words of Saint Paul, writing to the people of Corinth, as he tries to explain the concept of life and death, bodies and souls, and what happens when we are risen again to live with God in Glory.

He challenges them to accept the basic truth of Christ’s resurrection, even though some believed that resurrection was not possible. We must be careful not to let our ‘knowledge’ of what is or isn’t possible cloud our minds to see what God is doing or has done.

Our understanding of these things is incomplete and we must trust that God has all things in hand. As we consider today’s mystery, we recognise the honour given to Mary by the followers of Jesus.

This story and the wisdom of Saint Paul surely gives us hope of our life after death. They also give us a tantalising glimpse into the mystery of what eternity in heaven will be like.

Take some time with a simple repeated prayer to ponder these things.