This weekend, as I had indicated in the Bulletin last week, we also celebrate the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God. It is a Marion Feast and, because it is our predominant celebration we still include the resurrection of Christ. We only include this feast in our weekend celebration so that we can celebrate it as a community. Why even do this? The feasts of Mary reinforce what we know about human life through the feasts of Jesus. The Church has purposely established six major feasts of Mary so that we know that what God revealed through Jesus is for both men and women. The Jesus message is for both men and women.

The problem is that we continue to use “masculine” language to express the meaning of God’s revelation through Jesus. Why? Because Jesus was a male. So, desirous that there be no confusion about the message, the Church also highlights the events in the life of Mary which are parallel events to the life of Jesus. Again why? So that there is no doubt whatsoever that God’s message is for both women and men.
This feast has elements of both “death” and “resurrection.” This feast is about the “death” and “resurrection” of Mary, a woman. Although I would agree that the Church seems to be male centered, the structure of our worship, that is the feasts, would tell us that the Church desires to assure us that men and women are equal in God’s Kingdom and that the Jesus message is for all.

Mary, we quickly learn, through the worship of our Church, is God’s revelation and she represents what is true about us if we accept the revelation of God through Jesus. Jesus does not reveal what is true only about men. He reveals what is true about all humans. Mary is the proof of this revelation.

So the Dormition of Mary reveals that, even though our human bodies will go through decay, our souls, spirits and personalities will continue after physical death. The small child that Jesus holds in the icon of the Dormition is the “ESSENCE” of Mary – her soul and her person. Just as her soul and person go into eternity, so it is true about us.

This, of course, is why our Church celebrates the Dormition of Mary as a major feast. It tells us that Who We Are continues forever in the life of God because this is what God revealed through Jesus, the Son! Just as Jesus reveals the existence of eternal life, so does Mary.