Today we celebrated the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven.
When most people think of Catholic teaching, they generally think of it as old-fashioned, and usually this is meant to imply "outdated" or "irrelevant". The teaching against same sex "marriage" is an obvious example. Another issue might be the Church's refusal to admit women to the ordained ministry. These teachings of the Church have indeed been around for centuries, even if circumstances require a more modern explanation or development of those teachings, such as what Pope Paul VI had to do with birth control in the late 60's in his encyclical Humanae Vitae ("on human life", or what all recent Popes have had to do with abortion.
Infallible Church teaching falls into one of two main categories; faith and morals. All of the examples I just cited were examples of the latter, morals. When it comes to the Faith (the things we profess in the Creed every Sunday), most of those formulations have indeed been around for a long time. Most of the things we believe about Christ, for example, such as that He is true God and true man, and that He is a Divine Person, were formulated by Church councils within a few centuries after His death and resurrection, so almost 2000 years ago. What makes this teaching about the Assumption of Mary interesting is that it was defined very recently when compared to the rest of the Church's teaching on Faith. It was promulgated very recently (by Church standards) , in 1950, by Pope Pius XII, in his encyclical Munificentissimus Deus (the "most bountiful God"). In it, he writes:
Here is we see the Holy Father at that time professing something to be Divinely revealed, and thus, it is considered infallible teaching. There are strict conditions under which something infallible can be taught. This is a topic to explore in more detail in another post(s).
The Church's teaching, like Her Bridegroom, is beyond space and time. Whether it was formulated 2,000 years ago, or 20 years ago, or 2 hours ago, it is beautiful and glorious. Whether it is centuries old or just a few decades old, it deals with realities that transcend what we see and hear, and needs to be listened to.
This teaching of Mary's Assumption gives us hope. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that Mary's Assumption is "an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians". All Christians should think of this reality. Our lives, like Church teaching, like Our Blessed Lord, like the Blessed Mother, have a dimension beyond space and time. The way we live our lives have eternal ramifications. Are we living our lives gloriously so that we can be raised to the glory of heaven like Mary was? Are we living our mediocre lives that we will be in heaven, but perhaps on the outskirts? (I do believe there are different degrees of glory in heaven.) Or, are we living our lives in sin, and risk not being in heaven at all?
Joseph was the husband of Mary and is patron of the Universal Church. He was intimately involved in the life of Mary, and I believe he is intimately involved in the life of the Church as its patron. I am confident he plays a role in ensuring the teachings of the Church always reflect the Truth. When the Popes down through the centuries, as well as the Councils have discerned how to formulate Church teaching, I am sure they prayed to Saint Joseph, that like him, they could listen to Christ, and learn from Him, and also be recipients of the intercession of the Blessed Mother (as Joseph I am sure was the benefactor of her prayers during their marriage) as they deliberated and pondered what to say to the world.
Joseph, chaste guardian of the Virgin, and protector of Holy Church, pray for us.
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