The journey towards this singularity where machines can determine the future of the human race, did not start with the internet. In fact, humanity began this journey when alchemy became chemistry, magic gave way to science and mystery yielded its secrets to technology. The process of demystification corresponded to the distancing of God. Or more accurately, we moved away from God because for man to be big or for him to be great, God must be small.
Freed from the shackles of magic and mystery, man can now determine his own destiny and chart his own future. In order for that to happen, there is a need to cut God down to size. But the Assumption reveals to us what it means that our prominence and God’s eminence are not mutually exclusive, that one does not have to come diminishment of the other.
The Assumption shows how great Mary is only because she acknowledges God’s greatness. In the Gospel, Mary sings the Magnificat not just to glorify God but to illustrate that a confession and recognition of God’s glory does not come at the expense of man but instead God’s grandeur guarantees man’s dignity.
According to Pope Benedict, Original Sin came about because Adam and Eve felt that God’s presence is an intrusion into their lives that would take away their agency or restrict their freedom. But the Parable of the Prodigal Son may provide a solution to clear our misguided notion. Both brothers were not aware of the freedom they aboriginally possessed precisely because they were with their father. The older son felt unappreciated because the father welcomed and celebrated the useless younger brother’s return. In response to his resentment, the father replied, “All I have is yours”. The older brother did not recognise his exalted place as a son of a loving father. Instead he perceived himself only an obedient slave rather than a beloved son. The younger brother who believed his freedom could be expanded when he left the father, only found himself enslaved and his humanity reduced to the dignity or status of pigs.
Thus our freedom is rooted in the Father. The notion that freedom is independence from God is misguided. Today we celebrate the Assumption simply because Mary trusted in God fully. She never had to exercise her freedom away from God. Instead, in God she found the greatest expression of humanity’s desire to be free.
Human freedom expands when we remain in close proximity to God. John Paul II, who titled his first encyclical, Redemptor hominis, stated that Jesus Christ shows us what it truly means to be human by revealing man to himself and as a man, He brings to light man’s true vocation which is to be with God. The emphasis on Jesus’ humanity should be mirrored in Mary’s own humanity. Why? Through her total obedience and her sheer embrace of God’s will, her humanity was magnified rather than diminished.
In this sense, Mary is true man because she embodies the fullness of what it means to be a human person. Her fullness of grace was not of her own. Rather, her title as Mother of God embodies and models what it is to live fully and to act in a human manner as intended by God for us all. To err is human, we hear this repeated a lot but to be human is actually to be like Christ, that is, if we follow the inspiration of John Paul II. Christ reveals who we are supposed to be to ourselves. Hence, the Assumption is a confirmation that the highest degree of human freedom is reachable and achievable only when we give ourselves entirely to God.
I love the quote by William Wordsworth, the English poet whose remark points to Mary as our tainted nature’s solitary boast. It feels like we are saying to God, “Hey God, we have someone which can face you unashamed”. We can hide behind her and she is our pride. But actually, she is loved by the saints not because she is our boast. Rather, she is honoured because she is God’s greatest gift to us. No wonder Satan is fearful of her.
This Assumption, apart from celebrating Mary’s triumph, we should actively pray and petition the Lord that we may regain our true freedom which is to be found when we embrace God’s will. Freedom is not merely possessing the ability to choose as if both good and evil were equal in their substance and consequence. Instead, freedom is the ability to always choose the beauty of goodness and to always reject the glamour of evil. Mary’s ability to choose Godwas the expression of her true humanity. We who have been damaged by sin can also choose like Mary did. But for that, we need to pray not to be put to the test. And through the powerful intercession of the Mother of God and the man Jesus, we ask her to pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
