Why do things happen the way they
do? Was I predestined to be here?
Is there such a thing as
“predestination”? Predestination of
people and events is a profound
mystery of our Christian faith.
We believe that God sees and
knows all, and to the extent that we
share in his life we begin to increase
our knowledge, even foreknowledge,
but never reach God’s
perfect knowledge. Only God
knows all the options and tendencies
of people’s choices, and the
ultimate outcome of history. Predestination
is caught up in cause and
effect, the nature of God’s creation
and his plan of salvation. For example,
If I eat well and exercise, I will
be healthier than if I do not. If I am
baptized, pray, fast, give alms to the
poor and study the Catholic Christian
faith I will grow spiritually.
As the Catechism of the Catholic
Church states, no one is predestined
to hell, but it is up to us to choose to
follow Jesus Christ into heaven.
Only one human person always
chose to say “Yes” to God perfectly
-the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The predestination of the Blessed
Virgin Mary and her assumption
body and soul into heaven is the
greatest predestination. God created
Mary without Original Sin, much
like Adam and Eve (both of whom
fell from grace, thus Original Sin),
in order that she would share everything
with her divine Son, Jesus
Christ – the new Adam – who
chose Mary to be his Mother. He
took his flesh from her so that we
could share in God’s divine life of
grace and salvific service to mankind
by uniting ourselves to Christ,
the Incarnate Word of God, as
Mary did by saying “Yes” to
God’s divine will.
Thus, we celebrate the feast of the
Assumption of Mary, August 15,
by recalling how Mary’s predestination
is the destination of all who
follow the faith of her divine Son,
Jesus Christ, the divine head of the
Catholic Church, with the help of
Mary’s intercessory prayer.
Although Mary’s Assumption was
held by early Christians, it was
November 1, 1950 that Pope Pius
XII defined this doctrine as a
dogma which must be held by
every Catholic as a central and
thus pivotal doctrine of divine
faith. We believe this dogma because
God has revealed it as such,
for the purpose of having us reflect
on the destiny to which God calls
each person. Our souls and our
bodies are created to be temples of
the Holy Spirit, just as Mary’s was
and is perfectly so in the fullness
of heaven.
From the apostolic constitution
Munificentissimus Deus by Pope
Pius XII we read: “In
their homilies and
sermons on this feast the
fathers and great doctors
spoke of the assumption of the
Mother of God as something already
familiar and accepted by the
faithful… Scripture portrays the
loving Mother of God, …as most
intimately united with her divine
Son, and always sharing in this destiny…
Hence, the august Mother of
God, mysteriously united from all
eternity with Jesus Christ in one
and the same decree of predestination,
immaculate in her conception,
a virgin inviolate in her divine
motherhood, the whole hearted
companion of the divine Redeemer
who won complete victory over sin
and its consequences, gained at last
the supreme crown of her privileges
- to be preserved immune from the
corruption of the tomb, and like her
Son, when death had been conquered,
to be carried up body and
soul to the exalted glory of heaven,
there to sit in splendor at the right
hand of her Son, the immortal King
of the ages.”
Praise God we have such a wonderful
Savior in Christ and a glorious
Mother to intercede to him for us!
With God’s grace, let us fully
choose to follow Jesus and his
Mother into our eternal destiny –
heaven.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Thomas McCabe