Feast of the Bodily Assumption

At Latin mass yesterday, we had political priest, but he didn't speak about politics. Rather, he talked about the assumption of the virgin Mary into heaven.

Latin mass has been meeting in the church auditorium over the past few weeks, because the sanctuary is being refurbished. That means that we have chairs instead of pews (which means that I feel rather uncomfortable kneeling, since there's not that cushion for my knees that I pull out from under the pew in front of me). I sat down in my usual spot in the back row, and a nice old lady told me that those seats were reserved for the choir, since it was a high mass that Sunday. The fact that she informed me that it was a high mass may indicate that she knows I'm not a Catholic! I hope the people at this church don't try to convert me!

In the church bulletin, there was a blurb about how Mary is our nurturing mother. It was ironic that I read that, for, the day before, I listened to a sermon by Jon Courson that likened the Nehushtan that Hezekiah destroyed to Mariology!

The homily, as I said, concerned the assumption of Mary into heaven---body and soul. The priest said that this was one of the few times that the pope spoke ex cathedra, which (for Catholics) is when the pope is infallible. The other time was to declare that Mary was immaculately conceived.

The priest highlighted the importance of saying that Mary ascended in both her body and her soul. When the pope made his declaration, lots of bloodshed had just occurred. There was World War II, and also the Holocaust. The pope wanted to highlight the sanctity of human life---the importance of, not only the soul, but also the body.

There's a strong element of Christianity that believes in the redemption and restoration of the physical. Jesus rose bodily from the grave. Paul in Romans 8 talks about the universe groaning for the redemption of the sons of God, as if their redemption is its redemption.

But can the universe exist without death and chaos? In one forum, Russell Miller was saying that entropy entered the universe soon after it came into existence. He has talked as if entropy is an integral part of the universe, something I've also heard scientists claim. I read one physicist who maintained that the order in our small part of the universe depends in some sense on the disorder that exists elsewhere. In my opinion, that's why Russell doesn't talk about the redemption of the physical, but asserts that we reach immortality by transcending the physical. Death is an integral part of the physical, but not the spiritual (which includes our souls).

(I welcome Russell's correction and clarification on this.)

Similarly, the Gnostics believed (albeit for other reasons) that the material was corrupt, and so they said the goal of human beings should be to recognize that the material world is not their true home, in preparation for their soul going to a spiritual realm.

But back to the priest's homily. The priest talked about the virtues of Mary, and how she was like a new Eve. Eve was selfish and desired to be like God. But Mary was humble and obedient. And the humble are the ones who will be exalted, according to Jesus.

At times, in my Armstrongite background, a preacher or two said that the Armstrongite church has allowed its anti-Catholicism to lead it to ignore Mary. But the preachers went on to say that the Armstrongite church was wrong to do so, for Mary was a special person. She was obedient to God, even though she knew that the risks would be high if she became pregnant before marriage (since that was a capital offense). Plus, she must have been special, for God chose her to raise Jesus.