This Sunday marks the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – an occasion that is both joyful and shrouded in mystery. On this day, the Church commemorates Mary being assumed – or taken up – into heaven. What a beautiful day this must have been for our Blessed Mother who, having reached the end of her earthly life, was taken body and soul into the heavenly glory prepared for her by God.
Mary’s earthly life offers inspiration to Christians throughout the world. During the course of her life, Mary bravely says yes to God, and so accepts the invitation to bear the world’s salvation through Jesus. She says yes to carrying the Christ Child in her body for nine months. She says yes to raising an intelligent and strong-willed boy and accompanying her adult son in his ministry. And she says yes to the aches and pains of the privilege of parenting Jesus, including watching him die on a cross.
Yet Mary does not flee from this pain. Rather, she remains faithful and steadfast, trusting in God. As she proclaims in the Magnificat, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour. Through it all, Mary is brave, opening her life to God’s handiwork. Those who encounter her see the fruits of her yes. In today’s Gospel reading, Elizabeth is ecstatic to meet Mary, whom she understands to be the Mother of God: Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
The Assumption illustrates what we know to be true in the Resurrection – that death does not have the final word. As Pope Francis said in 2020, on the solemnity of the Assumption: “We understand that we are precious, destined to rise again. God does not allow our bodies to vanish into nothing. With God, nothing is lost.”
In the Assumption, we see the fruits of saying yes to God – and how God invites us to find the extraordinary in the ordinary. Mary’s life was ordinary and humble – and yet her decision changed the world. The Assumption shows us that like Mary, our final destination is eternal life – if we follow God’s will in our lives on earth. Let us ask our Blessed Mother to intercede for us, that we may follow her lead, living humbly and bravely and, as she proclaims in the Magnificat, magnifying the Lord in our souls.
