The Dormition of the Mother of God

Dn. Joseph gave the homily at St. John’s for the Dormition.  I thought it was quite good and wanted to share it with all of you.  Blessed Feast!

     Sometimes it is called,”The Summer Pascha”. Sometimes it is called “The Pascha of the Theotokos”.  Here at St. John`s we call this feast, “The Dormition of the Theotokos”.  Bp. Kallistos Ware writes, ”Orthodox tradition is clear and unwavering in regard to the central point of the dormition -  the holy Virgin underwent, as did her Son, a physical death – but her body like His – was afterwards raised from the dead and she was taken up into heaven in her body as well as in her soul – She has passed beyond death and judgment and lives wholly in the age to come.  The resurrection of the body has in her case been anticipated and is already an accomplished fact.   That does not mean ,however, that she is disassociated from the rest of humanity and placed in wholly different category: for we all hope to share one day in that same glory of the resurrection of the body which she enjoys even now.”St. Paul wrote, “for we were saved in this hope:”

     The Dormition is one of the 12 major feasts that we celebrate in the Orthodox church.  Then there is Pascha, the feast of feasts, which is above all the rest.  All the feasts point to Pascha, because Pascha is the point.  It is the center of history.  The theme song of the church is the Paschal anthem, “Christ is risen from the dead trampling down death  by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.” Christ is our life.  He is our Hope and our Glory and our Joy. The church sets before us 12 major feasts to aid us to grow in our love for God and our knowledge of. It is interesting to note that four of the major feasts are about Mary.  Her conception, her birth, her presentation, and her dormition.  Well, they are not really about Mary, but about Jesus, because Mary is all about Jesus.  In every service we call Mary to remembrance because she is the #1 saint in the Orthodox church.  Some one might ask, “Why? She

 didn`t go to college.  She didn`t go to seminary.  She was not ordained a priest. She didn`t write any books or icons.  She was not imprisoned or tortured or martyred for her faith.”  The answer the church gives is she is the #1 saint because she lived a life of complete obedience and devotion to God – of complete holiness and purity.  She was open and receptive to the Holy Spirit, living only and always for God in constant communion and love with Him. She attained Theosis.  She became as St. Peter puts it,” a partaker of the Divine Nature.” She lived life as the human race was created to live it. She inherited her human nature from Adam,  just as you and I have, yet she made her soul a temple of the Holy Spirit.  She was the first one to accept Jesus.  In a sense she is the new Eve.  And she taught her Son to live this way also. 

     She also teaches us. If you don`t mind  I would like to go through the epistle and the gospel that were read today and look at them in the light, in the context of the feast.  Paul wrote in Philippians, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,” In the context of this feast, the church is teaching us, that Mary had the mind of Christ.  The church is teaching us that we need to adopt the “mind of Christ.” When we hear, “He humbled Himself to the point of death,” we learn that Mary humbled herself and was willing to die for God and that we ought to be willing to lay down our lives for God and each other out of love.  Some one might ask, “When did Mary risk her life? When did she demonstrate that she was willing to die for God?” The angel Gabriel appeared to her saying,”You will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.” Mary was a pregnant, unwed teenager.  She knew that the penalty for adultery under the Mosaic law was death by stoning. People would conclude that she had committed adultery. She was willing to be seen as an adulteress and risk death out of love for God.  Mary was familiar with the passage in Job that says,”Though He slay me, yet I will trust in Him”. God called her, and she answered yes.  Pretty gutsy for a young teenage girl.

In the gospel of Luke we hear of two sisters,  Martha and Mary. Luke wrote,  “Martha welcomed Him into her house”.  Jesus always want to enter the door of our hearts.  He is always knocking.  The door of the heart of the Theotokos was always open and welcoming to the Lord. He was always her first priority.  As we read further, “Mary sat at Jesus` feet and heard His word.  But Martha was distracted.”  There are many distractions in this life. Mary the sister of Martha was focused on Jesus.  She chose to sit at His feet and hear His word  not allowing herself to be distracted, not allowing herself to be turned away from Him, and she got grief for it. Martha didn`t like it. If we follow Jesus we will get grief.  There is a cost.  Jesus tells us to count the cost.  As Paul wrote,  “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”  Or as Dostoyevsky put it,  “If not with a spear, at least with a snear.”  Mary had counted the cost and was willing to pay it.  Going on we read, “And Jesus answered and said to her,  Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things,  But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken way from her.”  The church is teaching us to lay aside all earthly cares, to seek first the kingdom of God, and to take it by force because there is no end to the distractions of this world, and this world is passing away, but those who do the will of God abide forever. 

     Further on in Luke we read “…that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, ‘Blessed is the womb which bore You and the breasts which nursed You!,’  But He said, ’More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’”  Mary was chosen to be the Mother of God because she heard the word of God and kept it. Likewise, we are all called to hear the word of God and keep it.  We are all called to follow Christ when He calls us.  All of humanity owes Mary an enormous debt of gratitude that she willingly said “yes” to God.  She is our great example.  She changed the course of history simply by saying yes to God.  One person can make a difference.  Mary was a teenager when God was born of her.  If you are a young woman and you don`t think that you can make a difference, look at Mary.  If you are a teenager and you don`t think that you have any gift to give, look at Mary.   Have you ever thought what the world would be like if Mary had said No to God?   If she had said to the angel Gabriel, “I have plans can you come back in a few years?  What about my reputation?  I really like the life that I have now in the temple can you find someone else?”   But she didn`t say any of those things.  She said “yes” immediately, decisively and without hesitation, trusting fully and without reservation in God. 

     We all have a calling.  Most of us will not be visited by an angel telling us exactly what we are supposed to do, but all of us have a job to do and it matters a great deal if we do our job or neglect it.  Is there something that God is calling you to do? Are you willing?  Maybe God is calling you to be a priest.  Maybe God is calling you to be the wife of a priest.  Maybe there is something you are doing that you need to give up.  Whatever it is, pray about. Let us open the door of our heart to God. He gave His life for us.  Wouldn`t it be wonderful if we could say to Him that we laid down our lives for Him?  Today let us consider Mary.  And calling her to remembrance let us commend ourselves and each other and all of our life to Christ our God.