Jesus Loves Mama-An Apt Assumption

In my musing “Prelude to the Assumption”, I portrayed a meditative scene prior to Mary’s heavenly commute that shows Jesus making an appearance at His Mama’s deathbed. Taking her by the hand, He opened her eyes, raised her up, then they vanished together, presumably with the Blessed Mother moving on to be assumed in whatever way that occurred (insert here your favorite artistic or theological rendering of this blessed event).

This is the culmination of Jesus displaying His love for the Blessed Virgin Mary—the fact that He did not let her suffer death at all, or perhaps for not more than an instant, but arranged that she be brought body and soul into heaven to reign as Queen. Where is this in scripture? Explicitly, nowhere, though many cite the lady with the starry crown in Revelation as evidence that Jesus slipped Mom into the heavenly realms. The lack of a scriptural Assumption account isn’t important, for St. John in his gospel says, “There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.¹” So in order to keep us from being snowed under in the written Word, a plethora of what the Master wrought ended up on the cutting room floor.

Notwithstanding this biblical silence, would it seem reasonable for Jesus to give Mama a post-humous cruise, body and soul to Always-Always Land? How come the Church didn’t proclaim this until 20 centuries later?

Judiciously avoiding the second question and its speculative quicksands, can we reasonably suppose the Assumption is a sound assumption? That Jesus loves His Mama is a fact backed up scripturally. For instance, examine His first documented adult encounter with her at the famous wedding at Cana. As I pointed out in “The Event Before the Event at the Wedding of Cana”, Mary seemed to be confident that her son would work His magic on the winelessness, even though His hour “had not yet come.”² And most certainly, that is what He did.

On the other hand, there are those who would cite the accounts in Matthew and Mark where Jesus, having been informed that His mother and other members of the family have arrived on the scene, replies, “Who are my mother and [my] brothers?… Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.³” Many who trot out this incident, imply that Jesus, by elevating His followers to level of kinfolk, was somehow diminishing the standing of His mother, whose “Fiat” (i.e. “May it be done”) got this whole messianic mission rolling in the first place. Talk about doing the will of the Heavenly Daddy—this lady put her life and reputation on the line to be an obedient servant to the Good God⁴.

Let us not neglect the other mother/son contention that is mentioned, when the young Jesus hung out in the temple while Mary and Joseph traveled home, then expressed surprise in a very blunt way in response to His mother’s anxious questioning about His behavior⁵. In a less enlightened era, like the one I was raised in, a sharp-tongued son could be spitting out teeth after such a parental confrontation. Instead, Mary, archangelically described as “full of grace” or “highly favored” (depending on which biblical flavor you favor)⁶, graciously “kept all these things in her heart.⁷” While in my family that meant “wait till I get you home,” I don’t think anyone believes that the Blessed Mother intended on walloping the Divine Son later.

Jesus loves His Mama. He honors her—and could He do anything else and not be in violation of the Big 10? He indulges her whims at the Cana event, though not yet punched in for His miraculous ministry⁸. His last act prior to death was to see that she was taken care of—turning over the woman He loved to the Apostle He loved⁹. As for the resurrection, if you want my views on how Mary of Nazareth fits into her son’s Easter comeback, see “Who Saw Him First?”.

From manger to cross and afterward, Mother Mary was on the scene, and when He died and was pierced by the lance, as Simeon predicted, so was she¹⁰. Can anyone conceive that our dear Savior would not bring His mother to Him as soon as she died? The Assumption assumption was widely accepted in the Church, and back as far as the sixth century, lay people, religious, and clergy spoke about it as if it were official doctrine. Consequently, Pope Pius XII’s declaration half way through the 20th century essentially opened the barn door for a horse that had already gotten out. And so, the Queen Mother Mary, continues to reign in heaven having enjoyed centuries of popular acclaim and fairly recent acknowledgement from the hierarchy that Christ the King truly knows how to honor His mother.