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St. Mary the Virgin

Church of the Atonement


Fr. Charles Everson


August 15, 2025


Every Sunday and major feast, we proclaim together that we believe in

one Lord, Jesus Christ, who for us and for our salvation, came down from

heaven, and by the power of the Holy Spirit became incarnate from the

Virgin Mary and was made man. We hear a profound summary of the

Incarnation in St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians: “When the fullness of

time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in

order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive

adoption as children.” The “fullness of time” means that all of God’s

patient preparation, from Abraham to David to the prophets, found its

decisive turning point in the coming of Christ—and it happened through a

woman, Mary of Nazareth.


It is no small thing that Paul leaves her unnamed here. He is making a

theological point—that Jesus is fully human, born of a woman, born into

Israel’s covenant—but the Church, from the beginning, has known her name

and honored her as higher than the cherubim and more glorious than the

seraphim. Today’s feast exists for just that reason: to remember Mary’s

unique role in God’s plan, to rejoice in what God has done for her, and

to see in her a sign of what God intends for us.


In the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox calendars, today is kept as

the Feast of the Assumption or Dormition—the belief that at the end of

her earthly life, Mary was taken body and soul into heavenly glory

before or after she died. While The Episcopal Church does not require

this belief as dogma, our liturgical material for today certainly

doesn’t shy away from it. From today’s collect: “O God, you have taken

to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of your incarnate Son: Grant

that we… may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom.”


That is the point. Whether or not we can describe exactly how Mary’s

earthly life ended, we believe that she is with Christ in glory—and that

what God has done for her is a preview of what God promises to do for

us. Mary’s assumption isn’t really about her at all; it’s a sign to us

and to all generations that God will keep his promise to raise us up to

be with him in glory. The glory we celebrate today did not happen in

isolation; it was the flowering of a lifetime of faithful obedience. To

understand what this feast proclaims, we must look again at the story of

her life—those moments when God’s perfect timing and Mary’s perfect

‘yes’ came together.


Mary’s life is threaded through with the “fullness of time.” The angel’s

visit to her was not a random moment, but the appointed hour in which

God’s plan leapt forward. Her fiat—“Be it unto me according to your

word”—was the opening of the world to its Savior. And in the fullness of

time, she stood by the cross when the hour came for her Son to be

glorified through suffering. If her Assumption is true, then the timing

was perfect at the end as well: when her earthly mission was done, God

gathered her into His presence, body and soul.


Today’s is not just about her. It is about us. Paul says Christ came so

that “we might receive adoption as children.” Through Him, we are no

longer slaves but heirs. Mary is the first to into that inheritance

fully—completely united to Christ in glory. She is not far away, locked

in some celestial vault. She is part of the living communion of saints,

praying for the Church and cheering us on as we run the race set before

us.


Her song, the Magnificat, tells us what kind of God she said yes to: the

God who scatters the proud, lifts up the lowly, fills the hungry with

good things. In her Assumption, the Magnificat is fulfilled. The lowly

handmaid is exalted; the one who bore the Bread of Life is herself

gathered to the heavenly banquet.


Today’s feast calls us to examine our own readiness for the fullness of

time in our lives. How do we respond when God’s moment arrives—whether

it comes as joy or as challenge? Mary teaches us patience in waiting,

trust in mystery, and faith through suffering. She shows us how to say

“yes” without knowing all the details, how to treasure things in our

heart until God brings them to fulfillment.


Our opening hymn this evening, “Sing we of the blessed Mother,” captures

the essence of today’s celebration: “Sing we too of Mary’s sorrows, of

the sword that pierced her through, when beneath the cross of Jesus she

his weight of suffering knew…” It does not stop with sorrow, but moves

to triumph: “…in Jerusalem above, she beholds her Son and Savior

reigning as the Lord of love.” That is the journey—from faithful

obedience, through suffering love, into glory.


The Episcopal Church’s approach to the Assumption allows us to hold

together Scripture and tradition. We do not claim to know every detail

of Mary’s final hour, but we do affirm that the God who raised Jesus has

exalted His mother. We can rejoice in that without fear of diminishing

Christ, because all of Mary’s glory points to Him. As she said at Cana,

she still says to us: “Do whatever He tells you.”


If we want to grow closer to Mary, there are simple ways to begin. Join

with the church and pray her song, the Magnificat, at Evening Prayer

every day. Or pray the Salve Regina, the hymn we’ll sing at the end of

mass today, at the end of the day. Let the repetitive “Hail Mary’s” in

the rosary be the backdrop to contemplating and meditating on the life

of her Son. And above all, imitate her openness to God’s grace and her

willingness to say yes.


In the fullness of time, Christ came to us through Mary. In the fullness

of time, Mary came to Christ in glory. And in the fullness of time, you

and I will behold Him face to face. That is our hope, the same hope Mary

now enjoys.


Until that day, we walk in faith, nourished by the same Christ she once

bore in her womb and now worships in heaven. In this Eucharist, we

receive Him—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity—a foretaste of the glory

that awaits. Mary’s Assumption assures us that this hope is not in vain,

for the God who has done great things for her will also do great things

for us.


So, friends, on this great feast, let us sing of the blessed Mother, not

as a distant figure, but as a loving Mother who constantly prays for us.

And as we honor her, let us follow where she leads – to perfect union

with her son, Jesus Christ, for all eternity. Amen.

 
 
 

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