Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. Pope Pius XII stated that this event was a “manifestation of the hope” of all humanity. In the Creed we profess such a hope, “the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.” Therefore, we cannot forget that Christ’s redemption redeems the whole human person, body and soul.
As Saint Paul states in his 1st epistle to the Corinthians, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep… But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.”
Mary is the first among “those who belong to Christ” to receive that ultimate promise. She was united to Christ fully (after all she was declared to be “full of grace”), bearing Him in her body and standing by Him at the cross. Her glorified body in heaven serves as a preview of the bodily resurrection that has been promised to every believer at the end of time.
What has already happened to Mary is what the Church as a collective body hopes to experience when Christ restores creation. She has reached the destination toward which every pilgrim Christian is currently walking. May she pray for us that we may seriously come to pursue such a life that leads us towards such Heavenly glory.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!
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