Sunday within the Octave of the Assumption

2022-08-22

As well as being the 10th Sunday after Trinity with an intent of Devotion, it is also the Sunday within the Octave of the Assumption of Our Lady Mary. Inaugurated every 15th of August, the day commemorates the "taking back up" of Mary into Heaven, which is a strange thing, because that sounds an awful lot like Ascension. Yet Jesus had to be executed on a cross to achieve the anastasis, whereas all Mary had to do (apparently) was suffer to be His mother. Poor poor Joseph was Jesus' earthly father and he gets no m...

As well as being the 10th Sunday after Trinity with an intent of Devotion, it is also the Sunday within the Octave of the Assumption of Our Lady Mary.

Inaugurated every 15th of August, the day commemorates the "taking back up" of Mary into Heaven, which is a strange thing, because that sounds an awful lot like Ascension. Yet Jesus had to be executed on a cross to achieve the anastasis, whereas all Mary had to do (apparently) was suffer to be His mother. Poor poor Joseph was Jesus' earthly father and he gets no mention at all.

So what is the meaning of it? How can we make sense of this appearance of a somewhat capricious exercise of God's grace? And then there's the matter of Mary being a virgin, pure and undefiled. What is that all about? Why does Gabriel visit her to tell her she is with child? Does she not know her own body? Or is something else going on?

People usually don't ask these questions and are indeed afraid to give them voice, but we are taught by the ancient rabbinical tradition that you are meant to inquire when the stories are against your own good sense. So let's not ignore the anomalies, but examine them carefully. Perhaps they may yield insights when we do.

Texts

The Book of the Wisdom of Solomon 9

Luke 1

The Laotse 25, 34, 49

Revelation 4

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