Taken Up

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Rev. 11:19a, 12:1-6a, 10ab; 1 Cor. 15:20-27; Lk. 1:39-56

 

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the day when we remember the unique end of her life on earth, just as the Immaculate Conception commemorates the unique beginning of her life.

We say that Mary was taken up by God to heaven. But long before God took her up to heaven, God took her up on earth:

            She was conceived without sin.

            Her parents, Joachim and Anne, showed her the ways of the Lord.

            She was chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus.

            She said yes to God's call,

                        even when the angel Gabriel told her

                                    that her heart would be pierced with pain and sadness.

            She and Joseph assumed the task of raising Jesus.

            She was the First Disciple of Jesus.

            She followed him to the cross and the grave.

            She received the joyful news of her resurrection.

In all that Mary did, her soul magnified the Lord.

She invites us to be taken up by the Lord, not in body but first in spirit.

She invites us to magnify the Lord in everything we say and do.—JC