Hari raya Santa Perawan Maria diangkat ke Surga
Background to this feast day (option to discuss)
The assumption of Mary is a dogma of the Catholic Church. In Catholic theology, a dogma is a truth that has been infallibly defined by the Magisterium to be divinely revealed. Church teachings (doctrines) fall into 3 classes: (1) those which the Church has taught with authority but not with infallibility; (2) those taught with infallibility from the chair of Peter; (3) those infallibly taught to be divinely revealed (dogma). As such, to reject a dogma is to commit heresy (i.e. rejection of a divinely revealed truth).
1 November 1950 – Pope Pius XII proclaimed the dogma relating to the Assumption in his Encyclical Munificentissimus Deus, which states:
“Mary, Immaculate Mother of God ever Virgin, after finishing the course of her life on earth was taken up in body and soul to heavenly glory.”
A distinction needs to be made between assumption and ascension. Hanya Tuhan Yesus yang dapat naik ke Sorga sebagai tanda ke-AllahanNya (Yoh3:13). Maria diangkat ke Sorga oleh karena rahmat dan kuasa Tuhan sendiri.
Note to korsels/fasilitator firman – sebelum mengupas firman, mungkin bisa tanya bagaimana mereka menanggapi ajaran2 Gereja tentang Bunda Maria, apa ada kendala dalam pengertian/perjalanan iman?
We know the common misunderstanding that Catholics place ‘too much’ attention and emphasis on Mary, and maybe some of us choose to tread very carefully when it comes to involving Mary in our spiritual journey. The feast of Mary’s assumption into Heaven points to God’s own acknowledgement of her greatness – nobody loves Mary more than God Himself and He gives her spiritual motherhood to the Church as a great gift.
To understand Mary’s assumption, we must first acknowledge the Immaculate Conception (she was conceived without original sin) – that God’s supernatural life was in Mary since the beginning of her existence. If we begin here, we should understand that everything about Mary ultimately reveals the mystery of Jesus Christ.
Q – imagine you/wife are about to give birth to your very precious child, would you not prepare your home, clean beds/clothes etc?
It is only fitting that God would prepare Mary as a pure dwelling place for Jesus (full of grace and not stained by sin). Biblical proof in Luke 1:28 – when angel Gabriel greets Mary “Hail, full of grace” scholars stated that the Greek translation of this passage is written in a perfect passive participle form (kind of like past tense). Mary was already full of grace before Jesus was conceived in her womb.
On the assumption – Mary is not the first person in the Bible to be taken up to Heaven. In the Old Testament, there was Enoch who was Noah’s great grandpa (Hebrews 11:5), and Elijah (2Kings2:11). If God could assume these faithful men, there is no doubt that Jesus would do the same to his own mother.
Q – imagine now that you have the power to preserve your own mum from bodily death. Would you not allow her to just fall asleep and wake up in Heaven? So we believe that Mary was assumed into Heaven..so what? What practical good comes out of our belief in this dogma?
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI writes,
“By contemplating Mary in heavenly glory, we understand that the earth is not the definitive homeland for us either, and that if we live with our gaze fixed on eternal goods we will one day share in this same glory and the earth will become more beautiful.”
What this means for us:
- We live in the hope that we will one day be united to God as did Mary. Death is now a means of salvation, and life becomes our journey towards salvation.
- In Mary, we have a mother who is a front liner to defend us in our earthly battles and points us always to Jesus.
Interesting parallels between OT/NT reveals that God gave Mary a special role in our salvation:
- Jesus is the new Adam breaking the chain of original sin (1Kor15:22) – Mary is the new Eve, she undid Eve’s disobedience by her ‘yes’ at the annunciation.
- Apakah kita sering struggle dengan ketaatan seperti Hawa? Diskusikan apa yang menjadi hambatan untuk kita taat – apa yang kita bisa contoh dari Bunda Maria? (contoh- humility, belajar mencintai firman Tuhan)
- Jesus is the new Moses – Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant (Why11:19, 12:1).
- Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth (she goes to the hill country of Judea, outskirts of Jerusalem) parallels the Ark of the Covenant being brought into Jerusalem in 1 Chronicles 15 (Tawarikh)
- Yesus yang di kandungan Maria adalah kesempurnaan dari manna (living bread), tongkat harun (royal priesthood), 10 Commandments (Word of God) yang ada di tabut perjanjian.
- The ark of the covenant was made out of acacia wood (Deuteronomy10:3) – rot resistant (makes sense for God not to allow Mary to experience bodily corruption!)
- Mary lived her life as a ‘God-bearer’ and this reflects in the way she gave her life to glorify God – diskusikan pengalaman kita membawa/merasakan hadirat Tuhan kepada/melewati orang sekitar kita.
- Jesus is the new Salomon (Davidic king) – Mary is the Queen mother enthroned at the right hand of the king. (1Kings2:19)
- Mary is our intercessor – we pray to Mary not because we can’t or don’t want to pray directly to God the Holy Trinity. We pray through her intercession as one who is already united with God. But also because she is the theotokos/Mother of God and OUR mother (Yoh19:25-27) – surely this is something special.
- Praying to Mary does not lessen our love for God because in surrendering to Mary, she helps us imitate her love for God, Son and Holy Spirit.
- Diskusikan pengalaman kalian berdoa melalui intersesi Bunda Maria – apa yang kalian rasakan/alami?
In this feast of the assumption, let’s revive our love for the Blessed Mother and seek to imitate her love, humility and total faith.
Weekly challenge – spend a portion of our time in daily prayer with the Blessed Mother.
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