Every now and again, when people have very little on their minds, you will find letters to the paper calling for the banning of the Angelus on television. It's a peculiar call. If you think about it, you may wonder what the fuss is about. The Angelus on TV consisted, in its present form, of images of ordinary people standing back for a few seconds, with a bell tolling in the background. There is no explicit vocal prayer involved. The viewer is invited to use the imagination, or not use it as the case may be. The Angelus is in effect cameo images of the incarnation. The icon traditionally associated with this prayer the image of mother and child. It is very difficult to find how this image of human love and regeneration could be found to be offensive. Long before Christianity, artists drew inspiration from that most primitive yet most sacred of all human relationships, the image of the mother and child. When all else was in chaos, mankind could gaze upon that image and say: "At least there remains one constant, one relationship that never changes." This week again a group of people called for the abolition of the Angelus on radio and TV. They claimed that the image is insensitive at a time when we now have a great variety of religions in the country. It wasn't representatives of other religions who called for the abolition, but individuals calling for a secular, pluralist Ireland. Does pluralist mean the abolition of every sign and symbol of particularity or difference? Should we all aspire unenthusiastically to blandness.
The Catholic dogma of the Assumption operates on the same level of the mother and child image. It states that Mary was taken up to heaven after her death. Her body was untouched by corruption. It is in many ways a peculiar teaching but, if we understand its context, it may make some sense. The teaching was never intended to do anything much for Mary, beyond saying that so intimately did she share in his life and death that she almost inevitably shared a similar blessed destiny. It was intended to elevate humanity's image of itself. This dogma was proclaimed by Pius X11 in 1950. The second world war, the most destructive war of all time, was just over. That was the war in which two atom bombs were dropped with such devastating consequences. Europe itself lay in ruins. It is against this depressing background that Pius X11 drew the attention of humanity to a sign of hope. Despite the threat that nuclear weapons represented to the material world, that material world too is the object of Christ's redemptive work. In saying that Mary remained incorruptible, he was saying that those who followed her example of radical and humble faith would live forever in God. Despite the destruction and depression, some things are indestructible and permanent, among them faith and love, dignity and nobility.
In the preface of today's Mass we say: "Today the Virgin Mother of God was taken up into heaven to be the beginning and the pattern of the Church in its perfection, and a sign of hope and comfort for your people on their pilgrim way." Pride and aggrandisement had led the world to the brink of destruction. The humble prayer of Mary as outlined in Luke's gospel is in marked contrast to such swashbuckling pride. Mary is the beginning and the pattern of Christian perfection. That pattern is summed up beautifully Magnificat which we heard read in today's gospel: 'He has cast down the might from their thrones and exalted the lonely; he has filled the starving with good things, sent the rich empty away.'
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