Mary, the Warrior Queen

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily on the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary 

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, August 15, 2021

It is important I believe, that since the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother for this year falls on a Sunday, that we  reflect more deeply on this great feast. In the first reading (Rev. 11:192a; 12:1-6a, 10ab) John takes us right into the heavenly court, the realm of God. As the celestial temple is opened, we see the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant may be unfamiliar to us, but for the first century Jews, it was not at all. The Ark was the box that contained the remnants of the Ten Commandments. It was the raison d’être for the Temple. The reason why the Temple existed is to house the Ark of the Covenant. Within the Temple, the Ark is the most sacred relic of the Israelites. It conveyed divine presence to Israel. Before the Temple was built, the Ark was carried to battle by Israelite armies when they went out against their enemies. Why? Because it symbolized and bore God’s presence and power. A couple of times when Israel lost the Ark, it lost its way, and when it conclusively lost it during the Babylonian invasion, the heart of Israel was broken. 

Although the Israelite Ark was lost during the Babylonian invasion, the Book of Revelation says it is back in its proper place. It is now in the heavenly Temple. But the difference is that the Ark seen in the heavenly Temple is associated with a Woman who is about to give birth. The Book of Revelation says, “A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.” The Early Church saw Mary the Mother of Jesus as the new Ark. Why? Because she carried within her, not just the remnant of the Ten Commandments, but the very incarnation of Yahweh. Despite the difference between the new Ark— Mary and the old Ark, there is also a similarity between the two. The new Ark, Mary, just like the old Ark is also associated with battle. What does that mean? The Book of Revelation says that as she was about to give birth, a huge red dragon with seven heads and seven horns appeared to devour her child. What does the dragon stand for? You can say it stands for Rome and all the descendants of Rome because at the time the book was written, Rome was the most powerful nation on earth. It stands for all forms of worldly power from ancient time to this present day that relies upon violence, threat of violence and oppression. The message of the Book of Revelation is that even though Mary was confronted by the beast, she triumphantly gave birth to a Son, a male child that will rule all nations. For shortly after the child was delivered, her child was taken to God and she was taken to a place of safety. So, this fierce dragon, this monstrous scary beast is powerless before the Mother and her Child. What point am I making? The Ark of the new Covenant, Mary, is still effective in battle today as the old Ark was in Israel. When the new Israel— the Church does battle with its enemies, the Ark of the new Covenant, Mary, is still extremely powerful.   

With all these in mind, we come to the Gospel of today. The Gospel takes us, not to the heavenly court, but to worldly struggle. It takes us to a little town in the hill country of Judah, where a woman is greeting her cousin. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant in her womb leaped and Elizabeth filled with the Holy Spirit cried aloud and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” In her response to Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth acknowledged that the Ark of the Covenant has come into her house and has blessed it. The infant John the Baptist leaping in her mother’s womb reminds us of King David who also leaped and danced in the presence of the Ark of the covenant as it was brought into Jerusalem. As this was taking place, Mary confirms the victorious mission of her Son: “He has shown the strength of his arm, and has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.” In her prayers famously called Magnifat, she declares that her child will confront the powers of the world, oppose the proud who sit in high places and lord it over the humble. She announces that her baby will lift up the lowly and feed those who have been exploited. She also announces herself as the Ark that the new Israel—the Church, will successfully carry into battles. The words of her prayers are actually fighting words. 

If you are asking yourself what these have to do with the feast of the Assumption of Mary, go back to the first reading. The Assumption is Mary’s relocation into the realm of God. It is her elevation body and soul into heaven where she now is. Now, don’t think of this in a platonic sense. For Plato, the highpoint of life is the escape of the soul from the body. But for us, biblical people, it is the resurrection of the body. At the resurrection, we look to the restoration of the whole self in heaven. The Assumption is Mary’s translation into this realm where she now reigns as the Queen. As the Queen of heaven, she is now in a higher realm of existence where she can exercise immensely greater power than she exercised while she walked the hills of Judea. Mary was indeed a first century Jew who lived in our world, but now through the Assumption, she is the Ark of the Covenant in the heavenly Temple. And this makes her a very powerful Warrior indeed. In all the authentic apparitions like Lourdes, Guadalupe, Fatima, Mary consistently presents herself not a sentimental figure, rather a warrior. She habitually announces a new stage in the great struggle. At the beginning of the 20th century, Mary announced in Fatima that the great war that would preoccupy the people of 20th century is the war against the Russian communist. She also announced her involvement in the struggle and gave us the weapon to fight, namely fasting, prayer, penitence, the rosary. If you speak to the worldly power that you are going to battle it with fasting, prayer, penitence and rosary, they will laugh. But those weapons given to us by the Blessed Mother brought down Lenin and Stalin. That’s why the Feast of the Assumption is both the celebration of Mary’s translation into heaven and also an encouragement to do battle. The biggest battle we face today is secularism and secularist ideology which insists that you don’t need God to be perfectly happy. That all you need is more wealth, more power, more pleasure and more honor (esteem of others). Secularism does great violence to the human heart because our heart is wired to God, our heart is restless until it rest in God, as St. Augustine tells us. Nothing on earth can finally satisfy the longing of the heart. This is why the secularist ideology is a destructive ideology. It’s leading so many into the sea of sadness, unhappiness, and emptiness. We need Mary, the Queen of heaven and earth to help us fight this battle and win.