Glorious Mysteries: Assumption

Summary

Podcast Summary: Catholic Bible Study - Glorious Mysteries: Assumption

Podcast Information

• Title: Catholic Bible Study
• Host/Author: Augustine Institute
• Episode: Glorious Mysteries: Assumption
• Release Date: April 17, 2025

Overview In this enlightening episode of the Catholic Bible Study series, hosted by Taylor Kemp alongside Dr. John Seehorn from the Augustine Institute Graduate School of Theology, the focus is on the Assumption of Mary, one of the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary. The discussion delves deep into the theological and scriptural foundations of this dogma, exploring its significance within Catholic faith and its connection to the broader narrative of salvation.

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1. Introduction to the Assumption

The episode begins with Taylor Kemp welcoming Dr. John Seehorn to discuss the fourth mystery of the Rosary—the Assumption of Mary.

• [00:21] Dr. John Seehorn: "The assumption refers to the belief that at the end of her life on earth, Mary was taken up into heaven, not only her soul but also her body. This is a defined dogma in the Catholic Church."

Dr. Seehorn clarifies that the term "assumption" originates from the Latin assumptio, meaning "a kind of taking up," emphasizing that Mary was taken into heaven both body and soul.

2. Distinguishing Assumption from Ascension

A significant portion of the discussion centers on differentiating Mary's Assumption from Jesus Christ's Ascension.

• [01:51] Dr. John Seehorn: "Mary's assumption is entirely passive; she is taken by God into heaven. In contrast, Jesus' ascension is an active act of His own conquest over death."

Dr. Seehorn explains that while both events involve being taken to heaven, Jesus' Ascension was a result of His own victory over death, whereas Mary's Assumption was an act of God granting her this honor.

3. Scriptural Foundations and Typology

The conversation transitions to exploring the scriptural basis for the Assumption, particularly through the lens of typology, a method of interpreting biblical events as prefigurations of later events in salvation history.

• [03:19] Dr. John Seehorn: "Typology is a way of reading the Bible using your fingers... because sacred Scripture is inspired by a single divine author who's unfolding a single really beautiful plan of salvation."

Kemp and Seehorn draw parallels between the Old Testament story of King David bringing the Ark of God to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6) and Mary's Visitation to Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-45). These parallels highlight Mary's role as the "new Ark," symbolizing the dwelling place of God among His people.

4. Mary as the New Ark of God

Central to understanding the Assumption is the typological connection between Mary and the Ark of the Covenant.

• [10:41] Taylor Kemp: "She's the new ark... just as in the ark, God dwelt in a special way among his people, Israel. Now, in Mary, God has come to dwell with his people, not only with Israel, but eventually with all of us."

Mary is portrayed as the living Ark, embodying God's presence on earth in a unique and intimate way. This typology underscores her privileged role in salvation history and sets the stage for her Assumption.

5. Psalm 132 and Its Fulfillment

Dr. Seehorn references Psalm 132 to deepen the theological understanding of the Assumption.

• [13:05] Dr. John Seehorn: "The word 'arise' here... it's the same word that the New Testament uses to talk about our Lord's resurrection. So maybe this is about more than just David and the ark—a new David and the new Ark."

This connection illustrates how Old Testament prophecies and Psalms find their fulfillment in both Jesus' resurrection and Mary's Assumption, highlighting the continuity and fulfillment of God's plan.

6. Theological Implications and Hope for Believers

The discussion moves to the broader implications of Mary's Assumption for all Christians.

• [14:35] Dr. John Seehorn: "Mary's blessedness... is not something that's only for her alone. We're invited into that blessedness as well."

Mary's Assumption serves as a model and a source of hope, illustrating the potential for all believers to share in the resurrection life promised by Christ. It emphasizes that while Mary had a unique role, the promise of eternal life is open to all through Christ.

• [16:15] Taylor Kemp: "Christ has defeated death... Mary was assumed. She was taken up not by her own power, she was taken up by the power of Christ. That's the exact same hope that we have."

This highlights the communal aspect of salvation and resurrection, with Mary leading the way as an exemplar for the faithful.

7. Conclusion and Encouragement for Devotion

As the episode draws to a close, both speakers reflect on the personal and communal benefits of contemplating the Assumption.

• [17:50] Taylor Kemp: "We pray that these conversations will deepen your devotion to the rosary, will deepen your devotion to Our Lady and bring you closer to Christ."

They encourage listeners to embrace Mary's example and intercession as a path to deeper faith and closer communion with Christ.

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Key Takeaways

• Assumption Defined: Mary was taken into heaven body and soul, a central dogma in Catholic faith.
• Assumption vs. Ascension: Unlike Jesus' active ascent and conquest over death, Mary's Assumption was a passive act of God.
• Typological Connections: Mary as the new Ark draws deep scriptural parallels, enriching the understanding of her role.
• Universal Hope: Mary's Assumption is a beacon of hope for all believers, illustrating the promise of resurrection and eternal life.
• Call to Devotion: Embracing the Assumption deepens one's connection to Mary and, through her, to Christ.

Notable Quotes

• Dr. John Seehorn [00:21]: "The assumption refers to the belief that at the end of her life on earth, Mary was taken up into heaven, not only her soul but also her body."
• Dr. John Seehorn [01:51]: "Mary's assumption is entirely passive; she is taken by God into heaven. In contrast, Jesus' ascension is an active act of His own conquest over death."
• Taylor Kemp [10:41]: "She's the new ark... just as in the ark, God dwelt in a special way among his people, Israel."
• Dr. John Seehorn [14:35]: "Mary's blessedness... is not something that's only for her alone. We're invited into that blessedness as well."
• Taylor Kemp [16:15]: "Mary was taken up not by her own power, she was taken up by the power of Christ. That's the exact same hope that we have."

Future Episodes Listeners are invited to tune in next week for the final episode in the series, which will feature a discussion between Taylor Kemp and Dr. Liz Klein on the coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

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This episode of Catholic Bible Study offers a profound exploration of the Assumption of Mary, intertwining scriptural analysis with theological insights to enhance devotion and understanding among believers. Through typology and reflective discussion, listeners are encouraged to deepen their faith and embrace the hope embodied in Mary's Assumption.

Transcript

[Taylor Kemp]

Hi and welcome to form. Now we are in the fourth part of our five part series on the glorious mysteries of the Rosary. Today we are going to cover the Assumption. And with me is Dr. John Seehorn, who is a professor at the Augustine Institute, Graduate School of Theology. I am Taylor Kemp. How are you doing, John?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

I'm fine. How are you, Taylor?

[Taylor Kemp]

I am wonderful. So let's dive right into the assumption. I was thinking, could you just walk us through what exactly is the belief about the assumption?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Sure. So the assumption, it's not so much about an unfounded conclusion, which is usually what we talk about. Don't make assumptions. Right. No. In this case, the word assumption just comes from a Latin word, assumptio, which means a kind of. A kind of taking up. Okay. And this refers to the belief that at the end of her life on earth, Mary was taken up into heaven, not only her soul, but also, but also her body. So this is a defined dogma. A lot of the details around it, though, we don't really know. There's a whole kind of panoply of legends that arise in the early church about what exactly this, this looked like. So, for example, the vast majority of our early witnesses about this attest to the fact that Mary died before being assumed into heaven. But we're not required to believe that. Right. And then there's also, there is diversity of opinion in the tradition about whether she was resurrected on earth before being taken into heaven. But the point of the dogma and the really important thing for our faith is to know that Mary already shares perfectly body and soul in the resurrected life of Jesus in heaven.

[Taylor Kemp]

Yeah. And I thought, could you maybe distinguish a little bit. I've heard the question, what is the difference between Mary's assumption into heaven and Jesus ascension into heaven?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

You know, actually what's interesting is the Greek term for assumption, analepsis. For those of you who are taking notes, that term actually is used to talk about Jesus being taken into heaven as well. And so, you know, we can distinguish them though, in a certain sense in that Mary's assumption is entirely passive.

[Taylor Kemp]

Yes.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Right, right. She is taken by God into heaven. Now, we can also talk about God the Father raising Jesus from the dead. Right. By the power of the Holy Spirit. But we can also, in the New Testament, does also talk about Jesus rising from the dead because he himself conquers death. So the key difference here, right, is that what we see in Jesus's resurrection and ascension is his own conquest of death, his own victory over death in Our Lady. What we see is her participation, her sharing of it, in Jesus's victory over death.

[Taylor Kemp]

Okay, awesome. So with that, let's look more into the Scriptures now, which, especially for the fourth and fifth mysteries, the glorious mysteries of the rosary, it can be a little harder. They're not as explicit as some of the other mysteries of the rosary that we are looking at. And so something that's part of our Catholic tradition is something called typology, which we're going to be looking at a little bit here. Do you want to just touch on just kind of what is behind that and then. And then move us into where can we see some of these types or how can we start to understand Mary's Assumption scripturally?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Sure. Well, I mean, I think a really good place to start is with the readings that the church actually appoints for the Feast of Assumption.

[Taylor Kemp]

They find it for you.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

It totally is. In fact, there have been times, Taylor, especially since I'm a convert to the faith, I wasn't raised Catholic. Same for you. When I kind of started studying typology and I would like to. Connections. I just.

[Taylor Kemp]

I just listen to you guys.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

I kind of started making some of these connections, and I was, like, really excited about them.

[Taylor Kemp]

Yeah.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

And then I went and looked in the lectionary and like, yeah, the churches are. That's just what we already did.

[Taylor Kemp]

When I was converting, I was reading some Scott Hahn books, which have a lot of typological things in it. And then I remember at the. When I was a graduate student here going into the catechism, and I thought that, like, everything he was telling me was completely new. And then I looked at the catechism, I was like, oh, it's right there. That's right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

That's the idea. Right. We want to be scribes who are trained for the kingdom, who are bringing out things old and new.

[Taylor Kemp]

Yes. The readings.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

So, yeah. Going to the readings for the Assumption. Well, the first reading we'll talk about a little bit, and I think you'll also discuss it more with Dr. Klein. When you talk about Our Lady's coronation is from the end of Revelation 11, beginning of Revelation 12. So we could turn there a little bit later. But I think a really great place to start actually is with the Gospel. And this is really puzzling for people because we don't have, as you mentioned, we don't have an explicit account of the moment when Mary was in fact taken into heaven in Scripture. So what do we read for the Gospel? What we actually read is the story of the visitation.

[Taylor Kemp]

Yeah. Which is surprising.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

And this, of course, is the second joyful mystery. So this is familiar if you've been following the rosary series. And it's the description of Mary. After the Annunciation, she's conceived the Lord Jesus in her womb.

[Taylor Kemp]

She.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

She arises and goes with haste to visit her kinswoman, Elizabeth, who, of course, is pregnant with John the Baptist. John the Baptist leaps in Elizabeth's womb. You have this beautiful greeting between the two, and then it leads to the Magnificat, Mary's sort of beautiful song of praise. Right. And I just. I love this whole story, but you think, well, why. Why in the world would this be associated with the conception? Okay. So I'm gonna. Gonna impose on your patience a little bit in order to kind of see how this works. So, you know, you mentioned typology, Taylor, and typology is a way of reading the Bible using your fingers.

[Taylor Kemp]

Okay.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Because you gotta be able to, like, stick your finger in one part of the Bible and be ready to look back and forth and compare things, right? Because sacred Scripture is inspired by a single divine author who's unfolding a single really beautiful plan of salvation. And so we need to be ready to kind of flip back and forth and see how these things work. So if you want to stick your finger in your Bible, put one In Luke, chapter one, verses 39 to 45, the story of the visitation, and the other one in two Samuel, chapter six. Now, this is really important. What's going on in second Samuel, chapter six is that King David has just managed to. To reunite all the tribes of Israel, okay? And he's taken Jerusalem, and he's going to bring the Ark of God now to Jerusalem. There's a whole backstory to what had happened to the ark. But of course, the ark, if you remember, is where God, in a special way, dwelt among his people. So this is a very important moment when David is.

[Taylor Kemp]

This is huge.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Oh, yeah. David's establishing a united kingdom of Israel centered in Jerusalem, and he's bringing the Ark of God's presence there. If you read the account of what goes on there, we won't be able to go through it entirely. But I'd encourage everybody to take time to read both of these in detail. And one of the things that we notice is there are certain details in the stories that align in really intriguing ways. So, I mean, you have an MA from the Augusta Institute, Taylor. So I'm gonna quiz you, what are a couple of those details?

[Taylor Kemp]

So some of the details are. It is in the Hill Country.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

That's right. That's right. The Ark had been in the hill country right before coming to Jerusalem.

[Taylor Kemp]

And then David's gonna go get it.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Okay, well, so. And then Mary goes to the hill country. Hill country on both stories. I'm telling you, it's the flipping.

[Taylor Kemp]

I know, sorry. The fingers. Yes. So Mary goes into the hill country of Israel. Isabel.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

That's right. Yep.

[Taylor Kemp]

She's gonna stay there for three months and. Am I jumping over there?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

No, that's right. No, that's.

[Taylor Kemp]

Okay.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Well, so an interesting thing. If I could pause you for a second, an interesting thing about the way that the details line up is that they don't sort of line up in, like, you can just draw straight lines across them. They're just kind of all there in a different order. And that's actually, for the fathers of the Church, one of the indications that this is not doctored. Right. This actually is God disposing these details to draw our attention to similarities, even though they're different.

[Taylor Kemp]

So the Ark had been in the hill country for three months.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

That's right.

[Taylor Kemp]

And Mary is going to spend three months with her cousin Elizabeth. David is going to have the Ark brought back to Jerusalem. And upon encountering the Ark, he's going to dance with joy before the Ark.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

That's right.

[Taylor Kemp]

And he's going to say the line, where is it we will find? But he's going to say, how is it that the Ark of my Lord.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Oh, that's in. That's in verse nine.

[Taylor Kemp]

That's in verse nine.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Second Samuel, six.

[Taylor Kemp]

Nine. There it is. And David was afraid of the Lord that day. And he said, how can the Ark of the Lord come to me? And then as we jump forward to Mary visiting Elizabeth, we're going to see the encounter between the two of them. And we're going to see John the Baptist dance or jump or leap with joy in the womb of Elizabeth. And then Elizabeth says that incredible line to the Blessed Mother, blessed are you. Where is it? There it is. 43. And why is this granted to me that the Mother of my Lord should come to me? So we just see. I mean, there's a ton of parallels here. And you can even see that Luke.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

You even missed two.

[Taylor Kemp]

What was the last?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Okay, so one of them is that David arose and went.

[Taylor Kemp]

Yes.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

And then Mary arose and went with hasten to the hill country. And the other one is that as the Ark is being brought into Jerusalem, there are these loud cries. Right? They're shouting. And in the Greek, you have a nice match in the language here between the cries as the ark is being. The cries of joy as the ark is being brought in. And then verse 42, Mary. Yeah, sorry, Elizabeth. Exclaiming with a loud cry to Mary. Right. So there's what? There's like, five of them.

[Taylor Kemp]

It's incredible. And so, I mean, I think that we can look at Luke here as a gospel writer, that he has this in the back of his mind, and he's inspired by the Holy Spirit intentionally presenting this visitation of Mary with the Christ child in her womb as a kind of retelling here of 2 Samuel 6.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

I think. That's right. And the key to it actually comes a little bit earlier in Luke 1, when Mary has asked Gabriel, how's this gonna happen? How am I gonna have this Messiah child since I'm a virgin? I don't know a man. And Gabriel says to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you in the power of the Most High, will overshadow you. And that language of being overshadowed by the divine presence is actually drawn from the Greek version of Exodus, chapter 40, when Moses has constructed the tabernacle, including the ark, and God's presence comes down. So the picture that we see being presented here is of Mary as the ark of the new covenant.

[Taylor Kemp]

The new ark.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

She's the new. She's the place where. Where in this previously unimaginable way, God's holy presence has come to dwell on earth. Right. Just as in the ark, God dwelt in a special way among his people, Israel. Now, in Mary, God has come to dwell with his people, not only with Israel, but eventually with all of us.

[Taylor Kemp]

And you can even think about when you get more specifically about the contents of the ark. In the old covenant was the rod of Aaron, the Ten Commandments, and the manna, and that we see Jesus as the bread of life. He's the giver of the new law, and he is the new high priest. And so all of these things are coming together. Thank you. I already have the degree, but I'll say that.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Well done. Well, you know, boy, I don't even think we're gonna have time to talk about everything that we kind of hope to. But you might still be wondering, okay, well, what does it have to do with the assumption?

[Taylor Kemp]

What is it?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

And this is one of those things that, you know, we're the beneficiaries of centuries of Christians who pondered these texts, who've prayed them, who sought to let their lives be formed by them. And one of the connections that they began to make was to a psalm, to Psalm 132, which actually refers to this event we just saw in second Samuel six, and David bringing the Ark to Jerusalem. And the whole thing is really beautiful to ponder and to pray through, but I just want to look for a minute at verse eight, Psalm 132. Eight says, Arise, O Lord, and go to your resting place. Or the Hebrew really just says, to your rest. Okay. You and the ark of your might. Now, in one way, at a kind of historical level, at the literal level. Right. Of course, this is about the story that we were just looking at in 2 Samuel 6. But as Christians prayed about this and recognized that Jesus fulfills all the Scriptures, they said, well, wait a minute. This word for arise here, it's actually the same word, one of the words that the New Testament frequently uses to talk about our Lord's resurrection. Right. So maybe this is about more than just David and the ark. What about the new David and the new Ark? And so we have here, in that first line, arise, O Lord, and go to your resting place. This is what we see fulfilled in our Lord's resurrection and ascension. Right. The Lord rises and then goes to his rest. It's such a rich word in Hebrew, too. Yeah.

[Taylor Kemp]

I was gonna say, you just think of the creation account.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Yeah. It's the idea of Sabbath, the heavenly rest of the Sabbath. This is what Jesus has entered into on our behalf, going before us into heaven. But then it says, you and the ark of your might.

[Taylor Kemp]

Yep.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Right. And so we see this fulfilled in our Lady's Assumption.

[Taylor Kemp]

And you can just see the importance of some of this typology where it's like, understanding that Mary is being presented as the new ark is not just some kind of anecdotal. Fun little Bible quiz. It's like, no, no, no. Then we can look and we can see there's prophecy in the Old Testament that tells us about things that are to come. And then we see this in relation with Christ and the. With his mother.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

That's right. Yeah. And then you might think, well, okay, that's really neat for her, but what does that have to do with me?

[Taylor Kemp]

What does that mean?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

And, boy, I wish we had a little more time to go into some other texts on this and stuff, but, you know, to kind of keep it brief. It has everything to do with us. Right. Because Mary's blessedness, her privilege of being the ark, of being in this unique way, the dwelling place of Christ, is not something that's only for her alone. Think about what Jesus said to her when she and some of his relatives came to see him in Capernaum.

[Taylor Kemp]

Yeah, right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

They said, your mother and your brothers are outside, they want to see you.

[Taylor Kemp]

Who is my brother and my brother.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Right. Those who hear the word of God and do it. And so we're invited into that, into that blessedness as well.

[Taylor Kemp]

And then, I mean, I think you're right that we probably don't have enough time to go into the text. But when we're talking about Christ's resurrection here and then there's some language in the New Testament about him being the first fruits, and then how can we kind of understand Mary in relation to Christ's resurrection, our resurrection, where she fits in all this?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Okay, yeah, I mean, I think you're talking about 1 Corinthians 15, which is actually the second reading for the Feast of the Assumption, talks about Christ being the first fruits. And then at the end when Christ has put, when God has put all of his enemies under Christ's feet, that the rest of us will rise. And you think, well, what about Mary? And the point is with Mary, in a unique way, she's already this all holy ark, right? The ark was to be gilded with gold. There was be no impurity in it. And as that special dwelling place for God, she already participated in that. And so it's fitting that she would already participate in the resurrection. Now, I don't know about you, Taylor, but I am not an all pure ark. But this is actually the kind of point I was getting at is that the blessedness of being the ark, of being a dwelling place for God is what every Christian is called to.

[Taylor Kemp]

Yes, that's right.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

And it's what we already participate in by grace because of our faith, because of our baptism, because of our participation in the sacraments. And so, you know, when we pray the rosary and we contemplate the Assumption of Mary, right, and the all holy ark of God that has risen with her Lord to share in his rest, what we're looking at is what we are all called to, right? And so we can pray to our Lord for the grace to be pure, to be like Mary. We can pray to our lady for her to help us, for her to pray for us and for her to invite us into that blessedness that the Lord gave her.

[Taylor Kemp]

Yeah. And we just see that, you know, the great joy of the resurrection is that Christ has defeated death. And then we look to Mary's Assumption and we say that in her he's defeated death and has raised up her body, which is what the hope is for all of us. And that that can be a great source of hope for us that, well, Christ has defeated death. We see Mary participate this in a preeminent way for what all of our hope is. And so we can look to her and say like, yes, she was assumed. She was taken up not by her own power, she was taken up by the power of Christ. And so, too, that's the exact same hope that we have. She just goes before us. And it makes me think of the language of the Second Vatican Council where Mary advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and that we were supposed to follow her in this pilgrimage of faith, and that she's the exemplar of the church. And so we just look at her, and it's almost better off, I think, to have a kind of stance, not so much of, well, why did she get this? And why this and why this? It's like, no, no, let us look to her and be like, that's what Christ promised all of us. And she's. Who can help us get there? She can help us. She can intercede for us so that we may be without stain, so that we may be assumed, you know, brought up body and soul into heaven one day. And she is kind of the. The image of hope, I think, of the power of God's grace because Christ by, you know, through a whole different theology of who he is and his person was ascended into heaven and defeated death. But Mary then is brought with him, and that we hope the same thing for us.

[Dr. John Seehorn]

Well said.

[Taylor Kemp]

Yes. Do you have any parting comments of just how can we pray this devotion a little bit better or anything for the viewers?

[Dr. John Seehorn]

No. I mean, no, I think that, you know, everything that we've said really gives me. It makes me excited to go and pray this mystery, honestly.

[Taylor Kemp]

Yeah, no, it is. So thank you so much for joining us. We pray that these conversations will deepen your devotion to the rosary, will deepen your. Your devotion to Our lady and bring you closer to Christ. Thank you so much for joining us. We have one more to go. Next week, you will hear from myself and Dr. Liz Klein on the coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Thank you so much, and God bless.