Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Celebrating Another Empty Grave

I don't generally go to Mass during the week, but today's special. It's the Feast of the Assumption. It's a very 'Catholic' celebration, as most Marian observances are.

Mother's Day is an exception - and that's another topic. (May 10, 2009)

Mary, Elvis, and Getting a Grip

I think Mary's very special, but I don't worship her. I worship God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Worshiping anyone or anything else is a very bad idea.

Maybe some of the billion or so Catholics alive today worship Mary, or Elvis, or physical fitness: but the Church says that's idolatry, and that it's strictly against the rules. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2097, 2112-2114) Which doesn't mean that we have to hate music or ignore our health: and those are still more topics.

Who Says Mary's Special?

I figure it's okay to see Mary as an outstanding person, since God seems to have that opinion:
"10 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,

"to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.

"And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you." "
(Luke 1:26-28)

Another Empty Grave

Mary shows up in the account of my Lord's first miracle. (John 2:5) Later, she's one of the very few folks who stayed with Jesus on Golgotha. (John 19:25) My Lord seems to have had a close relationship with His mother - another reason why I see no problem with thinking she's special.

The Feast of the Assumption is when we celebrate Mary's being taken to Heaven - soul and body. When the folks caring for her came back for her body, tradition tells us that all they found was a mass of roses.

Nice touch, I think. Mary seems to like roses. There's that incident with Juan Diego's tilma, and that's yet again another topic.

Body, Soul, and Coming Events

We call Mary's death her "dormition," or "sleep." When she died, my Lord promoted her to "Queen over all things," as it says in the Catechism:
" 'Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.'508 The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians:
"In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death.509"
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 966)
Mary's fully human, like me, except that God excluded or protected her from the original sin that's made life so interesting for the rest of us. And that's even more topics. (Catechism, 396-409, 490-493)

Being human, Mary was created as a composite creature: a rational being with an immortal soul - and a physical body. (Catechism, 362-368)

When I die, my body will start breaking down. It's not something I look forward to, but it comes with the package. On a strictly human level, I can see why Jesus didn't want His mother's body to go through that. My opinion.

Meanwhile, I'm not a soul locked inside a body: I'm a creature that's designed to be a unified soul and body. My body will die, leaving my soul waiting for that big closing ceremony we call the Last Judgment. (Catechism, 1038)

Following My Lord

I don't see a problem with admiring Mary and worshiping my Lord. Whenever I encounter Mary in Catholic traditions, she's doing pretty much the same thing she did at Cana: telling us to "do whatever he tells you." (John 2:5)

As for the tradition about roses being where her body should have been? I'm inclined to believe it. Not so much because it 'feels right,' but because of where I heard it.

It's easier for me to believe that Mary was assumed body and soul into Heaven, than it is to believe that an outfit could endure for two millennia: without help. And that's - another topic or two. (January 13, 2011)

Related posts:

No comments:

Like it? Pin it, Plus it, - - -

Pinterest: My Stuff, and More

Advertisement

Unique, innovative candles


Visit us online:
Spiral Light CandleFind a Retailer
Spiral Light Candle Store

Popular Posts

Label Cloud

1277 abortion ADD ADHD-Inattentive Adoration Chapel Advent Afghanistan Africa America Amoris Laetitia angels animals annulment Annunciation anti-catholicism Antichrist apocalyptic ideas apparitions archaeology architecture Arianism art Asperger syndrome assumptions asteroid astronomy Australia authority balance and moderation baptism being Catholic beliefs bias Bible Bible and Catechism bioethics biology blogs brain Brazil business Canada capital punishment Caritas in Veritate Catechism Catholic Church Catholic counter-culture Catholicism change happens charisms charity Chile China Christianity Christmas citizenship climate change climatology cloning comets common good common sense Communion community compassion confirmation conscience conversion Corpus Christi cosmology creation credibility crime crucifix Crucifixion Cuba culture dance dark night of the soul death depression designer babies despair detachment devotion discipline disease diversity divination Divine Mercy divorce Docetism domestic church dualism duty Easter economics education elections emotions England entertainment environmental issues Epiphany Establishment Clause ethics ethnicity Eucharist eugenics Europe evangelizing evolution exobiology exoplanets exorcism extremophiles faith faith and works family Father's Day Faust Faustus fear of the Lord fiction Final Judgment First Amendment forgiveness Fortnight For Freedom free will freedom fun genetics genocide geoengineering geology getting a grip global Gnosticism God God's will good judgment government gratitude great commission guest post guilt Haiti Halloween happiness hate health Heaven Hell HHS hierarchy history holidays Holy Family Holy See Holy Spirit holy water home schooling hope humility humor hypocrisy idolatry image of God images Immaculate Conception immigrants in the news Incarnation Independence Day India information technology Internet Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Japan Jesus John Paul II joy just war justice Kansas Kenya Knights of Columbus knowledge Korea language Last Judgment last things law learning Lent Lenten Chaplet life issues love magi magic Magisterium Manichaeism marriage martyrs Mary Mass materialism media medicine meditation Memorial Day mercy meteor meteorology Mexico Minnesota miracles Missouri moderation modesty Monophysitism Mother Teresa of Calcutta Mother's Day movies music Muslims myth natural law neighbor Nestorianism New Year's Eve New Zealand news Nietzsche obedience Oceania organization original sin paleontology parish Parousia penance penitence Pentecost Philippines physical disability physics pilgrimage politics Pope Pope in Germany 2011 population growth positive law poverty prayer predestination presumption pride priests prophets prostitution Providence Purgatory purpose quantum entanglement quotes reason redemption reflections relics religion religious freedom repentance Resurrection robots Roman Missal Third Edition rosaries rules sacramentals Sacraments Saints salvation schools science secondary causes SETI sex shrines sin slavery social justice solar planets soul South Sudan space aliens space exploration Spain spirituality stem cell research stereotypes stewardship stories storm Sudan suicide Sunday obligation superstition symbols technology temptation terraforming the establishment the human condition tolerance Tradition traffic Transfiguration Transubstantiation travel Trinity trust truth uncertainty United Kingdom universal destination of goods vacation Vatican Vatican II veneration vengeance Veterans Day videos virtue vlog vocations voting war warp drive theory wealth weather wisdom within reason work worship writing

Marian Apparition: Champion, Wisconsin

Background:Posts in this blog: In the news:

What's That Doing in a Nice Catholic Blog?

From time to time, a service that I use will display links to - odd - services and retailers.

I block a few of the more obvious dubious advertisers.

For example: psychic anything, numerology, mediums, and related practices are on the no-no list for Catholics. It has to do with the Church's stand on divination. I try to block those ads.

Sometime regrettable advertisements get through, anyway.

Bottom line? What that service displays reflects the local culture's norms, - not Catholic teaching.