What Kind of Mansions  

During my vacation these past two weeks, I toured some of the famous mansions that the very wealthy built as summer retreats in Newport, RI. Not only were the buildings themselves impressive on the outside, but the buildings were filled with the best of everything on the inside. I have photo after photo of the most beautiful wood and marble, furniture, chandeliers, paintings, tapestries and china. It was evident that no expense was spared to create a lifestyle worthy of the rich and famous.

 

Which reminds me of one of my favorite stories… A woman who had been used to every luxury and all marks of respect died. When she arrived in heaven, an angel was sent to escort her to her house there. They passed many lovely mansions and the woman thought, each time as they came to it, must be the one allotted to her. When they had passed through the main streets, they came to the outskirts where the houses were much smaller; and on the very fringe they came to a house which was little more than a shack. “That is your house,” said the conducting angel. “What!” said the woman. “That! I cannot live like that.” “I’m sorry,” said the angel, “but that is all we could build for you with the materials you sent up.”

 

All of which is another way of saying that I have never seen a hearse followed by a U-Haul.

 

Today we celebrate heaven. On this Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, the Church teaches that, because Mary was the mother of God’s Son, no corruption was allowed to touch her. Thus, instead of dying and being placed in a tomb, Mary was taken, body and soul—assumed into heaven. And one of the key things we remember about Mary was that she never lived in this world in a Newport-style mansion. She was forced to give birth in a stable because nobody had room for her.

 

One of the great themes associated with Mary is her humility, simplicity and lowliness. When the angel Gabriel comes to her, asking for her permission to be the mother of God’s Son, Mary identifies herself as the “handmaid.” I googled the word and found that a handmaid is a female servant, the subservient one in a relationship. And that is how Mary sees herself: “I am the servant [handmaid, handmaiden] of the Lord. Let it be done to me as you say.”

 

Then, what does Mary do right after that? After learning that she has been chosen for a most singular honor, she doesn’t focus on herself, doesn’t get puffed up, doesn’t call a news conference to share the news. Instead, she has learned that her elderly cousin, Elizabeth, is pregnant. And so, (according to today’s gospel) she “traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.”

 

Finally, consider the song Mary sings in celebration of all that God is doing, a song that we often refer to in Latin as the Magnificat (magnifies)—Mary’s soul magnifies, or proclaims the greatness of God. We might overlook this, or fail to get the point, but the song, when you analyze it, is rather subversive. It celebrates people who are humble, and lowly like Mary—not the rich Newport crowd. Just think of what Mary says: God has “shown the strength of his arm and has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the might from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.”

 

So, if we find ourselves drooling over mansions or envying the lives of the rich and famous, the Church gives us Mary today, and every day, as an example. While the wealthy woman of the story I shared was forced to live in a shack, Mary didn’t even have to die to be enthroned as the Queen of heaven and earth. She became precisely the person that God admires, the humble person to whom God’s heart goes out, the lowly person whose heart is open because it is not filled with the riches of this world. As a matter of fact, Mary was just like her Son, who relied on the charity of others and didn’t even, as he said, have his own place to lay his head.

 

So once again, God’s ways, and God’s priorities, are not the same as those of this world. Somehow, we have managed to turn God’s values upside down, and instead of running in haste to help a poor person in need, we chase after dreams of winning the lottery and living in Newport mansions. After touring the mansions, and then touring today’s Scripture passages, I had to stop and reflect. I encourage you to prayerfully reflect on the example of Mary as a way of coming to terms with your own priorities.

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By Charlene Currie • April 25, 2026
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Homily for the Second Sunday of Easter April 12, 2026

By Charlene Currie • April 25, 2026
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