Word of the Week
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Crown: Stephanos (Gk.): meaning "a mark of royal or (in general) exalted rank", or “an ornament given to honor someone”.
The Assumption of Mary is the Dogma which proclaims the Immaculate Virgin Mary’s singular participation in her Son's Resurrection, by which she was taken up body and soul, free from the corruption of sin, into heavenly glory at the end of her earthly life (cf. CCC, 966, 2853).
We read of the Greek Stephanos eighteen times in the New Testament with its most frequent use in the Book of Revelation. The gospel use of crown brings us directly into the paradox of the cross, which communicates Christ’s kingship passing by way of suffering in the crowning of thorns (Mt.27:29; Mk.15:17; Jn.19:2-5) and the crucifixion. Paul, Along with Peter, use the metaphor of the crown to speak of the given prize to those who are called servants of God, for they will receive the “crown of unfading glory” (1 Pet.5:4; cf. 1 Thes.2:19; 2 Tim.4:8). While the Book of Revelation also makes note of the “crown of life” (Rev.2:10), and those of the royal priesthood who wear the crowns (cf. Rev.4:4, 10), the book draws us deeper into the mystery of Christ’s kingship. In Chapter 14, we read of Christ as the “son of man” being described as a royal figure with a “golden crown on his head” (Rev.14:14). This passage echoes the great prophecies of Daniel and Zechariah. First, in the case of Daniel, we read in his prophecy that the “son of man” will obtain an eternal kingdom that will overthrow the powers of the adversary (cf. Dan.7:13), and second, in the case of Zechariah, we read that the Messiah will come into his kingdom by way of a crucifixion (cf. Zech.12:10) (cf. Hahn and Minch, 38). Ultimately, the passage from the Book of Revelation, points to Christ’s sovereignty and his final word on the rewards and punishment of vice and virtue.
Furthermore, where there is a king there is a Queen, and in the case of the heavenly courtroom, this lady of Royalty is the Blessed Virgin Mary who holds her place as the Queen-Mother of the Kingdom of David (cf. 1 kings 2:19-20, Jer.13;18; Rev.12:1). In this heavenly court, Mary, as the new eve, takes up battle with her adversary as prophesied in the first gospel found all the way back in Genesis (cf. Gen.3;15). Here, Mary is described as a woman who will share in the victory over sin and death. In addition, Mary’s crown of twelve stars signifies her role as principle archtype of the Church, whose governance is symbolized by the twelve apostles of the new covenant (cf. Rev.21:12-14). The astrological imagery of the “moon under her feet” are to capture her dignity (cf. Gn.37:9-10) and feminine beauty (cf. Son. 6:10). Interestingly, the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe depicts the woman from Rev.12:1-2.
On this Feast of the Assumption, as I reflect into the meaning and significance of the crown, I am reminded of a man that has impacted my life a great deal, and his name is St. Maximillian Kolbe. While St. Maximillian Kolbe is remembered for his heroics in the concentration camp of Auschwitz (laying his life down for a fellow prisoner), it is what happened when he was a little boy that I right about him now. As a young lad, upon praying to Mary about what was to become of him in the future, little Raymond (name before his name change) received a vision of Mary who presented him with an option of two crowns: red for martyrdom (type of death) and white for the priesthood (purity). Raymond in his zeal, selected both: the priesthood and martyrdom. Certainly, not even young Raymond could see into the future how these crowns would play out in his life, but one thing is for sure, over time what emerged from the heart of St. Maximillian was an unbridled love for Mary, the Immaculata, and her son Jesus Christ. His whole life was a hymn of submission to Jesus through Mary, and as such, a life of heroic charity. One could say that St. Maximillian created a spiritual army for the Church (at the heights of his work he had the largest functioning monastery in the world) in which they would by their work fend off the agents of the adversary with their many apostolates. In the end, what is to be remembered of St. Maximillian Kolbe are the two crowns that were ever before him in his daily journey towards personal sanctity and holiness.
“...Jesus addresses the proposal that we follow him every day and also reminds us that to be his disciples it is necessary to make our own the power of his Cross, the summit of our good and the crown of our hope.”
--Pope Benedict XVI
Primary Texts Consulted
• Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
• Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, 1997.
• Hahn, Scott and Minch, Curtis. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The First, Second, and Third Letters of John and the Book of Revelation. RSV, 2nd ed. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2009.
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