Today’s feast, like every feast, is primarily a celebration of God the Father. Today we glorify him for an event he designed to take place in the life of the Blessed Virgin. At the end of her life on earth, she was assumed, body and soul, into heaven, where she remains for us the glorified embodiment of hope, the promise of our future.
God chose Mary to be the mother of his Divine Son and on the cross, where he died, he gave us his mother. She then lived out her aging years consistent with what she put into practice all of her life: “Be it done unto me according to your word.” His Word then called her to himself, the Assumption, where she can “pray for us now and at the hour of our death” in a most powerful manner.
So, the feast of the Assumption should remind us that the more we pray to her, the greater insight we will have of God’s love for us, and that one day we will experience the answer to her prayer, which is that at hour our death, we will join her and our faithful brothers and sisters in praising and glorifying God for ever.
Resolve: Today I will ask the Holy Spirit to develop in me a deeper devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and to pray with her and the faithful departed in her company for the conversion of those on earth who struggle with sin and doubt.