Fr Marco Lazzaron
ho among us, after receiving wonderful news can really keep it to ourselves? Think about it for a moment: we’ve passed an important exam, we’ve been offered the job we’ve always dreamed of, we’ve learned that a loved one is well after a time of great worry… what do we do? The first thing is to pick up the phone or run to the person we love to share the good news. Real joy is contagious; it cannot remain still. It longs to be shared.
That is exactly what today’s Gospel tells us. Mary has just received the most astonishing news in history: she is to become the Mother of God. And what does she do? Does she stay at home reflecting on how fortunate or deserving she is? No. The Gospel tells us that “she arose and went with haste”. Within her, she carries not merely wonderful news; she carries Jesus Himself. And she cannot keep Him to herself. She hastens to her cousin Elizabeth, another woman living through a miracle, to share this immense joy.
The meeting between these two women is extraordinary. It is not merely a greeting between relatives. It is the meeting of the Old and the New Testaments. As soon as Mary greets Elizabeth, the child Elizabeth carries in her womb—John the Baptist—leaps for joy. He recognizes his Lord. You see, the presence of Jesus, even while hidden in Mary’s womb, brings joy and makes life itself leap with gladness.
And what about us? How often do we hurry? So often our haste is the haste of anxiety: I have to pay the bills, I have to rush to work, I have a thousand errands to run. Mary teaches us another kind of haste: the haste of bringing Jesus to others. How? With a smile for someone who is sad, with a phone call to a lonely person perhaps waiting for someone to visit, with a small act of forgiveness within the family. Like Mary, we too can bring Jesus into the world.
This brings us to the feast we celebrate today: the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At first glance, it may seem like a complicated theological doctrine, something far removed from everyday life. In reality, it is simple and deeply relevant to all of us.
From the earliest centuries, the Church has believed that at the end of her earthly life, Mary did not undergo the corruption of the grave. Ancient Christian tradition speaks of the Dormitio Mariae—her “falling asleep.” It was not a death marked by despair, but a peaceful falling asleep in the love of God, followed immediately by her being assumed into heaven, body and soul. In 1950, Pope Pius XII simply gave a solemn definition to this ancient and universal belief by proclaiming the dogma of the Assumption.
Why Mary? We can understand it with very human logic. Mary’s body was the first tabernacle in history; for nine months it was the dwelling place of the Son of God. Could God allow that body—that holy temple—to return to dust? Certainly not. As it is wonderfully said: “she who had preserved her virginity intact in childbirth should also keep her body free from corruption after death” (St. John Damascene).
Think of it this way. If we owned a precious casket that had once held the greatest treasure of our lives, would we throw it away once it was empty? Of course not. We would preserve it with the greatest care and give it a place of honour. God did the same, in an infinitely greater way, with the body of His Mother.
But we must remember that the Feast of the Assumption is not celebrated only to honour Mary. It is a feast that speaks about our own future. We too are destined for heaven—not only with our souls, but, at the end of time, with our bodies as well. Our bodies are not an optional part of who we are, nor are they prisons from which the soul must escape. Our bodies are sacred. With them we work, love, suffer, and pray. And these very bodies are destined for glory.
The Assumption reminds us that our true home is not here. We are pilgrims on this earth, journeying toward the Father’s house. Mary is simply the first to have reached the summit.
As we leave this church today, let us carry two things in our hearts. First, let us learn Mary’s holy haste—the eagerness to bring the joy of Jesus to others through simple acts of love and kindness. Second, let us look toward heaven with hope. Mary assumed into heaven reminds us that the struggles of each day, our joys and our sorrows, all have meaning and are directed toward a glorious destiny. She is living proof that the love of God triumphs over death.
Prayer
Let us ask our heavenly Mother to accompany us on our journey, so that one day we too may reach the joy that never ends, together with her and all the saints, in the glory of heaven. Amen.