Homily from Father Chas Canoy
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Homily Short Reflection
In the stained glass windows of St. John Church, the South transept shows the Ascension of Jesus, and the North transept the Assumption of Mary. Both point to the same destination—heaven, body and soul. The difference? Jesus ascends by His own divine power, while Mary is assumed by God’s grace. Their windows remind us that salvation is God’s gift, and our role is to freely cooperate with His will.
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Father Chas: At the end of the earthly life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mary was assumed into heaven, soul and body. So her earthly body was transformed immediately, conformed to that transfigured body of Jesus Christ upon her entrance into heaven. And so that is the divine mystery that we celebrate today in the Assumption of Mary, body and soul into heaven.
Father Chas: Right—Jesus ascends into heaven, and what about Mary? She’s assumed into heaven. One is in the active voice, and one is in the passive voice. In an active sentence, the subject is the one that performs the action. And so Jesus himself, in a joint action with God the Father, by his own power as God the Son, ascends into heaven. But can a mere creature do the same?
Father Chas: No, right? Can a human being, even if she was the highest exemplar of our race, ascend into heaven by her own power? No. And so that is why today’s mystery is expressed in a passive sentence, right? Mary is assumed into heaven. If Mary is receiving the action, who is performing the action? God—the Triune God: her Father, her Son, and her spouse, the Holy Spirit.
Father Chas: And so it is with us. We too, God willing, will be assumed into heaven. And that is accomplished by God’s power. We don’t have the power to force ourselves into God’s house. It’s Him extending the invitation, and we accept that invitation by cooperating with God’s will in our life. Salvation is God’s action, but we actively cooperate with that action because God respects the human freedom with which He has endowed us.
Father Chas: And so it is with every divine action of grace in our lives, the sacraments being the preeminent of those divine actions. That’s why we say that we receive the sacraments. God is the one performing the action of divine life being bestowed upon us in the sacraments. But we must actively cooperate with that action in order for it to be effective.