Aspirations of Faith

August 13, 2024

The Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary into heaven body and soul is a significant doctrine in the Catholic Church.  Its documented roots date back to the 3rd Century, but evidence points to it being an established belief in the Church back to the time of the Apostles.  The most important piece of circumstantial evidence lending credence to the belief that Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven is the fact that we do not have any relics of Mary.   The veneration of saints, rooted in the theology of the communion of saints and the sanctity of the human body, led many churches, religious orders, cities, and even individuals to seek out the relics of saints with great fervor, and yet, we have never had any relics of Mary; not one.  As a side note, we have no such relics for Jesus either because he resurrected from the dead and his now seated at the right hand of God in his glorified body.  Like Jesus’ tomb, Mary’s tomb was found to be empty. 

However, despite the fact that the doctrine of Mary’s assumption was firmly established in the early Church and commented on by the Church Fathers, it was not until November 1, 1950, that Pope Pius XII elevated this doctrine to the level of a dogmatic teaching with his encyclical, Munificentissimus Deus.  It’s important to note that Pius XII’s encyclical did not make the Assumption of Mary an official teaching of the church.  It had always been an accepted doctrine without dispute, but by elevating it to a dogmatic teaching it carries with it the obligation for every Catholic to hold the Assumption of Mary as a sacred truth in order to be and remain Catholic. 

Why did the Pius XII do this and why wait nearly two millennium to formally define and promulgate this teaching as dogma?  Before we answer that, we must bear in mind that the Church issues such decrees to either make definitive it’s teachings in response to some heresy, or as a pastoral response because a particular teaching speaks to worldly events and drawing attention to it will benefit God’s people.  In regard to the former, there’s never been a heresy surrounding the assumption of Mary.  Her assumption into heaven body and soul has never been disputed within the Church.  Therefore, Pius XII’s encyclical was issued in response to worldly events because this doctrine provided a response to those events that was worthy of reflection by the world in its entirety.    

Looking back at 1950, we see the world coming out of two devastating world wars over a span of roughly 30 years.  World War I introduced terrible instruments of destruction such as the machine gun, the tank, and arial combat.  World War II went on to “perfect” and add to those instruments of mass destruction, which now included nuclear weapons capable to destroying entire cities and their populace.  The inhumanity of it all led to tremendous loss of life and suffering.  Adding to the devastation of modern warfare was the horror of the Nazi Regime’s persecution of Jews, Christians, and those races it deemed inferior to itself, which resulted in the slaughter of over 6 million Jews and many others innocents in their concentration camps.  Socialism, Communism, and Fascism were eroding basic human rights.  Humanity had lost sight of the dignity of the human person.  This was the backdrop that inspired Pope Pius XII to issue a response that would hopefully counter the inhumanity afflicting the world, and he couldn’t have chosen a better subject matter to refute the trends of modern society than Mary’s assumption.

The Assumption of Mary brings to completion the dogmatic teaching of the Immaculate Conception, which was defined by Pope Pius IX nearly 100 years earlier in 1854, in response to worldly concerns at that time.  The Immaculate Conception declares that through God’s grace, Mary was preserved free from Original Sin and its effects from the moment of her conception.  What Jesus accomplished for all of humanity on the cross, namely the redemption of the world, by God’s grace, Mary was granted at the moment of her conception.  Every human being has a diminished intellect and freewill due to Original Sin, the effect of which is that we are predisposed to sin and experience physical suffering and death as a result.  Mary, being full of grace and preserved from free from sin was able to choose good and conform her will to God’s will every day of her life.  She remained free from sin her entire life and therefore was also preserved from the effects of sin, which included physical suffering and death.  How could this sacred vessel, this Ark of the Covenant, this living tabernacle that was preserved free from the stain of Original Sin in order to give life to God incarnate ever succumb to the corruption of death?  Her Assumption into Heaven body and soul completes the work God began in her through her Immaculate Conception.  She is the model of what awaits all of those who are faithful to her Son.

It was for this reason that Pius XII chose to highlight this important teaching because it reminds us all of our true dignity as a human person.  Similar to Mary, God affords us the opportunity through the sacramental life of the Church to become vessels of his grace and bear his Son to the world, most especially through the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist.  God values the life of all of his children and desires all of his children to share eternal life with him in heaven.  The human person is more than a means to an end, or a cog in the wheel of society that exists for the good of the state, or whose value rests squarely on his or her ability to be productive and contribute to the welfare of the state.  The human person is created in the image and likeness of God and is destined for heaven.  Mary's destiny is our destiny.  We are all sojourners and foreigners living in a foreigner land and on borrowed time.  Our dignity does not depend on external factors like productivity.  Our dignity is inherent from the moment of our conception until our natural death regardless of race, creed, sex, or nationalism.  We are more than just a body; we are a body and a soul, and that body will be glorified with Christ when we are resurrected from the dead when he comes again in glory.  Mary’s assumption into heaven reveals the sacredness of human life and what awaits every human person.  This is why Pius XII chose that point in time to bring this sacred teaching to light, and it is a teaching that we find ourselves in desperate need of reminding nearly 75 years later.

Recognizing Pius XII’s attempt to call to mind the dignity of the human person through the dogma of the Assumption of Mary, the let us take time as we prepare to celebrate this solemnity to mediate not only on our own inherent dignity as a human person, but upon the inherent dignity of every human person, those we tend to look down upon, those we hate, those we fear, those we deem to be our enemies, those we overlook and ignore, in the hope that we may come to see them for who they truly are, our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus worthy of being loved, worthy of being saved.  May God grant us the grace we need to oppose any attempt to reduce the human person to anything less than the masterpiece of creation that they are.  Mother Mary, pray for us!

October 14, 2024

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in dealing with the First Commandment, which focuses on placing strange gods over and above the one true God, states that, “All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to ‘unveil’ the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history and in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers.  They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone” (CCC 2116).  When we engage in divination practices such as relying on tarot card or palm readings, consulting tea leaves or horoscopes, or attempting to contact the dead through mediums or through Ouija boards, we are placing our faith in someone or something other than God, which is contrary to the first commandment which commands us to place our faith in God alone.

Even if our participation in these practices is viewed as amusement or just for fun, we need to be very wary because such practices have been known to open the door to evil spirits, and those spirits will not differentiate between those acting in faith and those engaging in fun.  If the door is open, they will enter regardless.  Parents, especially, need to exercise caution and due diligence, over their children when it comes to occult practices, which have seen a significant uptick in popularity over the last decade.  Ouija boards and tarot cards are being marketed to youth as ‘games,’ but even more worrisome are the algorithms used in social media platforms.  It only takes one to two “looks” at such content on any social media platform for occult stories and posts to appear regularly in one’s feed leading to even more exposure to occult content.  The current numbers don’t lie.  In 2021, the astrology market was valued at $12.8 billion, and is projected to grow to $22.8 billion by 2031.  That’s just for astrology.  Psychic services had a revenue of 2.3 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow significantly over the next 3 to 5 years with social media driving interest.

No one ever starts out as a diabolical sinner.  That path begins with minor sins that slowly over time create a pattern of sin that makes choosing more serious sin easier and more likely.  Likewise, a single tarot card reading, or occult post on social media may appear at first harmless, but one must understand that they are really designed to lead a person into more hardcore occult practices that are truly diabolical.  In the end, if we are channeling spirits other than the Holy Spirit, we are putting ourselves at great risk and our very soul in jeopardy. 

What can we do?  In the end, we want to avoid anything that might offend God, or that might lead us away from his love and eternal life.  First, be vigilant and reduce exposure to occult practices, especially in our social media feeds by choosing to see less of such material, blocking the poster, or disliking said material if it appears in our feeds.  Again, parents must be proactive in this regard with their children’s access to social media.  Second, if you’ve dabbled in occult practices, renounce them and get to confession.  Allow the grace and mercy of God to heal you.  It might also be advisable to seek prayers of deliverance from a priest.  These prayers can deliver you from any evil or evil spirits that may be present in your life, as a result of your exposure to the occult.  If you really want to know your future then take that to prayer with God and ask him to help you discern his will for you. Therein lies your true fulfillment and happiness – always!