Summer star gazing is wonderful. A clear night sky can reveal a glorious panorama, a celestial feast for the eyes. At times, the night sky can truly take your breath away. August gives us another reason to look up. Three celebrations, the Transfiguration, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, and the Queenship of Mary, draw the internal gaze of our minds and hearts upward, toward the heavens. The view is even more glorious than one can ever imagine.
Oh, So Close!
Have you experienced heaven on earth? The apostles, Peter, James, and John certainly did. At the Transfiguration, the experience was so overwhelming for them that Peter didn’t want to leave. He began devising a three-tent structure that would allow them to stay on the mountain, even if only for a while. As the Gospel describes, the encounter was so intense that the three passed out or fainted. Our “heavenly” experiences aren’t so dramatic, but they are powerful moments that remind us we are meant for more.
Transcendent joy is a feeling of deep, unshakeable happiness that helps us rise above difficult daily circumstances. Beauty found in nature or art lifts the mind toward God. Radical generosity, the giving or receiving of sacrificial love, reflects God’s unconditional care. Perfect peace comes to us when our mind is quiet and our soul is calm, even amidst external chaos. Almost heaven, we get glimpses of what heaven must be like.
It’s in the Sacraments of the Church, however, that the curtain separating heaven from earth is pulled back. Baptism is a spiritual rebirth. The gates of heaven open and fill the soul with sanctifying grace. The experience of divine mercy in confession washes away sin, restoring the peace and purity of heaven to a broken, wayward soul. Confirmation is a personal Pentecost that seals the soul with the Holy Spirit, empowering us to bring Christ’s love to the world. The Eucharist is the ultimate intersection of heaven and earth. Bread and wine become the actual Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. Receiving the Eucharist brings us into a physical and spiritual union with Christ, allowing us to taste the heavenly banquet while still on earth. Heaven comes close!
Oh, So Far!
If the Transfiguration treats of “heaven on earth,” the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a sober reminder that earth is very far from heaven. Holy Mary, the pure and innocent Mother of God, assumed into heaven body and soul, reminds us of all that we’re not.
In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul helps us understand the human condition. We sometimes move in the opposite direction, away from beauty, peace, goodness, and light, away from heaven. “Throw off the works of darkness, put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and lust, not in rivalry and jealousy” (Romans 13: 12-14). St. Paul wrote this for a reason. Some in his time, as in our own, felt the pull toward darkness, sin, depravity, and evil. It’s awful, but real. Haven’t you also felt the pull, the force of attraction to things that are ungodly? That’s temptation, the attraction and lure of sin which can draw us away from God toward selfish desires.
Our Lady’s Assumption is a reminder to each of us to resist and work against the pull of sin. That is, we are asked to surrender to the upward pull of grace, to give-in to God, which leads to friendship with him, spiritual growth and wholeness and holiness. Daily we can feel the pull between the call of the Lord, the invitation to one day be with him in heaven, and the lure and attraction of finding our happiness and fulfillment in the things of earth. Ultimately, we are to use the things of earth in such a way as to hold fast to the things of heaven, as Mary did.
Oh, What Hope!
The Queenship of Mary intensifies, increases, amplifies, and magnifies the upward pull. There, from her place in heaven, our Mother intercedes for us with her Son. She uses her powerful queenship not to distance herself, but to actively intercede for all facing temptation, anxiety, and darkness.
St. Augustine famously observed that Mary’s physical role as Mother was secondary to her spiritual fidelity as a disciple. He wrote that “Before conceiving the Lord in her body she had already conceived him in her soul.” What an immense source of hope! The Assumption reminds all the baptized that our true home is in heaven, where Mary and the saints enjoy eternal and perfect union of body and soul with God. Heaven is reachable for anyone who makes room for the Lord within their own soul. Reach for the heavens, that is, live everyday heeding and surrendering to the upward pull of God’s grace. We were made to walk among the stars.
“O Mary, conceived without sin… pray for us who have recourse to thee. Amen!”
