Vigil of the Assumption (August 14th)
1st Reading: 1 Chronicles 15:3-4, 15-16; 16:1-2
Enthronement of the ark in Jerusalem
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[3] And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord
to its place, which he had prepared for it. [4] And David gathered together the
sons of Aaron and the Levites. [15] And the Levites carried the ark of God upon
their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word
of the Lord.
[16] David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brethren as
the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres
and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy.
The ark is placed in the tent
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[1] And they brought the ark of God, and set it inside the tent which David had
pitched for it; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. [2]
And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings,
he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.
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Commentary:
15:1-24. The preparations for the transfer of the ark involve leading figures in the
life of the people and in the priesthood. Firstly, David himself, who makes arran-
gements about where it will be lodged (v. 1), calls the people together (v. 3), and
gives all the necessary instructions (vv. 4, 11-12, 16); secondly, the Levites, cho-
sen to be the only ones to carry the ark (vv. 2, 12) and organize the liturgical
chant (v. 19); thirdly, the priests, particularly those appointed by David – Zadok
and Abiathar (cf. 2 Sam 8:17; 15:24-27; 17:15; 19:12), who are sanctified along
with the Levites (vv. 11, 14); and finally the entire people gathered in liturgical
assembly.
The liturgy of the Church uses much of this passage in the Mass of the Vigil of
the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, thereby teaching that Mary is the true ark
of the Covenant, the temple of God’s enduring Presence on earth. Apropos of
the Assumption, St John Damascene says, in a meaningful play on words, "To-
day, she who was the temple of the Lord is at rest in the divine temple that was
not built by human hand” (In Assumptionem, 2).
16:1-43. The Levites who brought the ark to Jerusalem are charged by David
himself with organizing the liturgy and its music. This definition of their role will
be a point of reference for those who succeed them, including those who were
alive when this book was written.
"To invoke, to thank and to praise the Lord” (v. 4), three essential elements of the
liturgy, are spelt out also in the psalm that follows. Invocation includes the joyful
remembrance of the wonders worked by the Lord (vv. 12, 15); thanksgiving means
acknowledging God in all his works (vv. 8, 34, 35); and praise of the Lord means
sharing in his glory, glorying in him (vv. 10, 25, 36). In Christian liturgy, as a res-
ponse of faith and love to the spiritual blessings God gives us, "the Church, uni-
ted with her Lord and 'in the Holy Spirit (Lk 10:21), blesses the Father 'for his in-
expressible gift (2 Cor 9:15) in her adoration, praise and thanksgiving” (Catechism
of the Catholic Church, 1083).
2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:54b-57
The manner of the resurrection of the dead
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[54b] [When] the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying
that is written:
"Death is swallowed up in victory.”
[55] "O death, where is thy victory?
O death, where is thy sting?”
[56] The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. [57] But thanks
be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Commentary:
54-58. The chapter ends with the words of joy and thanksgiving to God for the
tremendous benefits bought by the death and resurrection of our Lord, benefits
which result from his victory over those enemies which had made man their
slave – sin, death and the devil. Jesus Christ, by dying on the cross – offering
himself to God the Father in atonement for all the offences of mankind – has con-
quered sin and the devil, who attained power through sin. And his victory was
completed by his resurrection, which routed death. This has made it possible for
his elect to be raised in glory, and is the cause of their resurrection. "In Christ”,
Pope John Paul II explains, "justice is done to sin at the price of his sacrifice, of
his obedience ‘even to death’ (Phil 2:8). He who was without sin, ‘God made him
to be sin for our sake’ (2 Cor 5:21). Justice is also brought to bear upon death,
which from the beginning of man’s history has been allied to sin. Death has jus-
tice done to it at the price of the death of the one who was without sin and who
alone was able – by means of his own death – to inflict death upon death (cf. 1
Cor 15:54f) […]. In this way the cross, the Cross of Christ, in fact, makes us
understand the deepest roots of evil, which are fixed in sin and death; thus the
Cross becomes an eschatological sign. Only in the eschatological fulfillment
and definitive renewal of the world will love conquer, in all the elect, the deepest
sources of evil, bringing as its fully mature fruit the kingdom of life and holiness
and glorious immortality. The foundation of this eschatological fulfillment is
already contained in the Cross of Christ and in his death. The fact that Christ
‘was raised the third day’ (1 Cor 15:4) constitutes the final sign of the messianic
mission, a sign that perfects the entire revelation of merciful love in a world that
is subject to evil. At the same time it constitutes the sign that foretells ‘a new
heaven and a new earth’ (Rev 21:1) when God ‘will wipe away every tear from
their eyes and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor cry-
ing nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away’ (Rev 21:4)”
(Dives in misericordia, 8).
56-57 The Apostle here provides a summary of his teaching on the connexions
between death, sin and the Mosaic Law, a teaching which is given in a much
more elaborate form in chaps 5-7 of his Letter to the Romans. Sin is the sting
of death in the sense that death entered the world through sin (cf. Rom 5:12) to
do harm to men. Sin, in its turn, grew as a result of and was reinforced by the
Mosaic Law: the Law did not induce people to sin but it was the occasion of
increase in sin in the sense that made it plainer where good lay and yet did not
provide the grace to enable man to avoid sin (cf. Commentary on 1 Cor, ad
loc.).
Gospel Reading: Luke 11:27-28
Responding to the Word of God
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[27] As He (Jesus) said this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to
Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts that You sucked!"
[28] But He said, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep
it!"
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Commentary:
27-28. These words proclaim and praise the Blessed Virgin's basic attitude of
soul. As the Second Vatican Council explains: "In the course of her Son's prea-
ching she [Mary] received the words whereby, in extolling a Kingdom beyond the
concerns and ties of flesh and blood, He declared blessed those who heard and
kept the word of God (cf. Mark 3:35; Luke 11:27-28) as she was faithfully doing
(cf. Luke 2:19_51)" ("Lumen Gentium", 58). Therefore, by replying in this way
Jesus is not rejecting the warm praise this good lady renders His Mother; He ac-
cepts it and goes further, explaining that Mary is blessed particularly because
she has been good and faithful in putting the word of God into practice. "It was a
complement to His Mother on her "fiat", 'be it done' (Luke 1:38). She lived it sin-
cerely, unstintingly, fulfilling its every consequence, but never amid fanfare, rather
in the hidden and silent sacrifice of each day" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing
By", 177). See the note on Luke 1:34-38.
[Note on Luke 1:34-38 states:
34-38. Commenting on this passage John Paul II said: "'Virgo fidelis', the faithful
irgin. What does this faithfulness of Mary mean? What are the dimensions of
this faithfulness? The first dimension is called search. Mary was faithful first of
all when she began, lovingly, to seek the deep sense of God's plan in her and for
the world. 'Quomodo fiet?' How shall this be?, she asked the Angel of the An-
nunciation [...]."
"The second dimension of faithfulness is called reception, acceptance. The 'quo-
modo fiet?' is changed, on Mary's lips, to a 'fiat': Let it be done, I am ready, I ac-
cept. This is the crucial moment of faithfulness, the moment in which man per-
ceives that he will never completely understand the 'how': that there are in God's
plan more areas of mystery than of clarity; that is, however he may try, he will
never succeed in understanding it completely [...]."
"The third dimension of faithfulness is consistency to live in accordance with what
one believes; to adapt one's own life to the object of one's adherence. To accept
misunderstanding, persecutions, rather than a break between what one practises
and what one believes: this is consistency [...]."
"But all faithfulness must pass the most exacting test, that of duration. Therefore,
the fourth dimension of faithfulness is constancy. It is easy to be consistent for
a day or two. It isdifficult and important to be consistent for one's whole life. It is
easy to be consistent in the hour of enthusiasm, it is difficult to be so in the hour
of tribulation. And only a consistency that laststhroughout the whole life can be
called faithfulness. Mary's 'fiat' in the Annunciation finds its fullness in the silent
'fiat' that she repeats at the foot of the Cross" ("Homily in Mexico City Cathedral",
26 January 1979).]
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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