Feast of the Assumption 15.8.06
Today we recall that Our Lady was taken into heaven body and soul at the moment of her death.
As the psalm says: You would not allow Your holy one to experience corruption. This applies to Our Lord but also by extension to Our Lady.
She lived a perfect, sinless life, so sin had no claim on her. She would not experience corruption, nor even delay in her entry to glory.
More beautiful in body than any person has ever been, resplendent in glory, she rises to heaven.
Not to leave us orphans, but to continue as our Mother, now bringing us to birth in the life of grace.
If sinlessness was the key to her glory then what of us who are so enmeshed in sin? Can we hope to share her glorious fate?
In proportion as we can break free from sin we will grow in grace, and grace is the life of God within us; which in turn translates into glory.
Our Lady was so fully alive because she was ‘full of grace’. The life of God was active in her and it was this life that enabled her to transcend death.
We are far from full of grace, but we can improve on how much grace we have, and we seek to do that.
We actually become more alive as we make progress in holiness. The progress is registered first in the soul; then the body.
Our bodies still must suffer decline and death, but we hope to bounce back from that and enjoy glory.
We will not be assumed straight into heaven, but we can increase the degree of glory our bodies will enjoy on the last day – by the way we live now.
So while we regret the ageing process and the gradual running down of the body, we can rejoice in the thought that we will eventually be glorious, and more so than at any point of our earthly life.
Our Lady can obtain for us the graces we need to live better lives. She has mastered the new life of grace and is privileged to share what she has.
God has entrusted to her the distribution of graces as she sees fit. She is truly Mother because she gives life.
So we ask her for more grace, more life, so we can heal the rift between soul and body; so we can live more clearly for the glory of God.
The great eternal picture is exciting. We long to finish our earthly pilgrimage. In the meantime, however, we must get on with the grinding daily tasks; getting the little things right so that bigger things can follow.
Remember: that every little victory for holiness will make us more alive and will increase our final degree of glory.
Our Lady can obtain for us the graces that we need. She is praying for us anyway, but if we actually go to her she can do more for us.
So we pray today, with special confidence, that she, Queen and Mother, will help us to love God more in our daily lives, and so prepare for final glory.
