Sermon for the Feast of Mary, Mother of Our Lord

SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF MARY, MOTHER OF OUR LORD Holy God, may we, like the Blessed Virgin Mary, take to heart the word that you speak to us today and strive to put it into practice in our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Today we celebrate what is now known in a Prayer Book for Australia as the Feast of ‘Mary, Mother of our Lord’, but which for many Christians, is known as the ‘Feast of the Assumption.’ The Assumption refers to the belief in the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her earthly life. Catholic Church doctrine teaches that the Virgin Mary "having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory". Although this doctrine was not formally ratified until 1950 by Pope Pius XII, Christian devotion to Mary goes back to the 2nd century and Mary was specifically mentioned in the liturgy of the church for the first time following the First Council of Ephesus in 431. It was around this time that artistic images of Mary began to appear and larger churches were being dedicated to Mary. Belief in the Assumption of Mary can be found in sermons going back to the sixth century. This is in spite of the fact that the concept of the Assumption is found nowhere at all in the New Testament, although several scriptural passages have been theologically interpreted as pointing to the doctrine of the Assumption. The Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate on this day what is known as the ‘Dormition of the Theotokos’, or the falling asleep of the Mother of God. Eastern Christians believe that Mary died a natural death, that her soul was received by Christ upon death, that her body was resurrected on the third day after her death and that she was taken up bodily into heaven. Many Catholics also believe that Mary first died and then was resurrected before being assumed. Others believe she was assumed bodily into Heaven without first dying. Within Anglican circles, the Assumption of Mary is, in typical Anglican fashion, either celebrated, rejected outright, or completely ignored. It disappeared from Anglican worship with the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549. Anglican rejection of the Assumption is based on the fact that there is no direct mention of the end of Mary's life in Scripture or the first five Ecumenical Councils. Our modern lectionary for A Prayer Book for Australia also moves or transfers the celebration of Mary, Mother of Our Lord, to tomorrow, as Mary is not considered important enough to usurp the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost. We here ate Holy Trinity Cathedral will do the right thing by Our Lady. For many people, the Feast of the Assumption presents some of the more difficult aspects of devotion to Mary. It seems to suggest a heavenly identity that removes her from everyday humanity. So I thought for our purposes we might reflect on the human Mary, and what we might be able to celebrate with her today. If we look at the New Testament, we find Mary most clearly revealed in the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke. But outside the infancy narratives, Mary is mentioned only a few more times. Mary is involved in the only event in Jesus' adolescent life that is recorded in the New Testament, when Jesus became separated from his family and was found in the Temple in Jerusalem, debating with the religious leaders. And she is of course mentioned in the second chapter of John’s gospel at the wedding at Cana in Galilee. The Gospel of John refers to Mary standing near the cross of Jesus together with Mary Magdalene, Mary of Clopas, along with the "disciple whom Jesus loved". It is here that Mary s given into the care of the disciple, which in some ways s quite odd, given that the other gospels mention Mary’s other family members, who would, it would be thought, have cared for her themselves. In the Acts of the Apostles, Mary and the brothers of Jesus are mentioned in the company of the eleven apostles who are gathered in the upper room after the Ascension of Jesus. From this time, she disappears from the biblical accounts. Paul (in our epistle reading for this Feast) writes that Jesus was ‘born of woman’ but does not mention Mary by name. The Book of Revelation speaks of a woman who is caught up in the battle between good and evil who gives birth to the Anointed One. Many see this woman as being Mary, however other scholars see this figure as a representative figure of God’s people or Israel. But what we are told is worth celebrating today. For Mary is an outstanding example of a life dedicated to God. For me, the best celebrations of Mary celebrate her as a person, who allows herself to become part of God’s plan for the world. And while we may celebrate her Assumption into Heaven, we need to be careful that Mary should not be seen as less than human or more than human, less than woman or more than woman. If we lift her onto too high a pedestal, we are most likely to lift her into irrelevance. One aspect of Mary’s character which is so often overlooked within the life of their church is her strength. We often think of Mary as something of a shrinking violet, a spiritual wallflower. Mary has been portrayed by the patriarchal church throughout history as the perfect example of womanhood: quiet, demure and obedient. We sing it in our hymns to Mary, hymns which emphasise how prim and proper Mary is. We see it in Mary’s depiction in art throughout the centuries, nearly always with head bowed in subjection and modesty. Which actually goes in the face of how she is depicted in Scripture. I would like to suggest that the picture we get of Mary from Scripture shows a strong, independent and impressive young women, a perfect choice to be the mother of God’s Son who came to shake up the religious and political status quo of the time. So whether we are comfortable in celebrating the Assumption of Mary today, or not, we can all celebrate the life of a woman of uncompromising faith and service, a woman who opened her life to the Spirit of God, allowing God to work though her life in bringing God’s saving love to all people in all times and places. .

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