Tonight the Church stands at the threshold of one of the great feasts of Our Lady.
Tomorrow we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary: that at the end of her earthly life, Mary was taken body and soul into the glory of heaven.
The readings for this Vigil show us why this mystery belongs not only to Mary, but to all Christians.
In the First Reading, David brings the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem.
The Ark was the sacred dwelling place of God’s presence among His people.
It contained the signs of His covenant.
It was carried with reverence. It was welcomed with rejoicing.
And the Church has always seen in the Ark a figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The old Ark carried the word of God written upon stone.
Mary carried within her womb the Word made flesh.
The old Ark contained the manna from the wilderness.
Mary carried Him who would say, “I am the bread of life.”
The old Ark was overshadowed by the glory of God.
At the Annunciation, the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary.
She is the Ark of the New Covenant.
Not because of anything she possessed apart from God.
Everything in Mary is grace. Everything in Mary points to Christ.
She is great because God has done great things for her.
And the Assumption reveals what His grace has accomplished.
Mary gave herself entirely to God.
Her body belonged to Him. Her soul belonged to Him.
Her whole life was one great “yes” to His will.
Therefore it is fitting that the woman who bore the Son of God in her body should be taken, body and soul, into His heavenly glory.
Saint Paul tells us in the Second Reading: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
Death entered the world through sin.
It appears to have the final word over every human life.
The body grows weak. Life ends. The grave receives what remains.
But Christ has changed the meaning of death.
By His Cross He has conquered sin.
By His Resurrection He has conquered the grave.
Death remains an enemy. But it is a defeated enemy.
“The sting of death is sin.” And Christ has taken away that sting.
The Assumption of Our Lady is therefore a sign of hope for the whole Church.
What has already happened in Mary is what God promises, in its proper way, to all who belong to Christ.
We do not believe merely in the immortality of the soul.
We believe in the resurrection of the body.
The body matters to God. The body was created by Him.
The body was redeemed by Christ.
The body is washed in Baptism. The body receives the Eucharist.
The body kneels in prayer. The body performs works of mercy.
And one day, at the resurrection of the dead, the body will be raised.
Mary has already entered into that glory. She is where the Church hopes to be.
Then in the Gospel a woman cries out to Jesus: “Blessed is the womb that bore you.”
She wishes to praise His Mother. Our Lord does not reject that praise.
He takes us deeper.
“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”
And no one heard the word of God and kept it more perfectly than Mary.
At Nazareth she heard the word of the angel.
“Let it be to me according to your word.”
At Bethlehem she kept the mysteries of Christ in her heart.
At Cana she told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
At Calvary she remained beside the Cross when so many others had fled.
Mary’s greatness is not merely that she was physically close to Jesus.
Her greatness is that she belonged completely to Him in faith.
She heard the word.
She kept the word.
She lived the word.
That is the road to heaven.
The Assumption is not an invitation to admire Mary from a distance.
It is an invitation to follow her.
Our Lady shows us what a human life looks like when it is surrendered to grace.
Our culture tells us to belong to ourselves.
Mary teaches us to belong to God.
Our culture tells us to protect ourselves from sacrifice.
Mary teaches us to say, “Let it be done to me according to your word.”
Our culture teaches us to fear suffering, ageing and death as though they were the end of everything.
Mary points beyond the grave.
She reminds us that our true homeland is heaven.
My brothers and sisters, tonight we should ask a simple question.
If Mary is already where we hope to be, are we living as people who are going there?
Are we hearing the word of God and keeping it?
Are we fighting sin?
Are we receiving the Sacraments faithfully?
Are we treating our bodies as belonging to God?
Are we living for heaven, or merely for this passing world?
The Assumption tells us that heaven is real.
The resurrection is real.
Eternal life is real.
Christ’s victory is real.
And Mary, our Mother, has gone before us.
So let us ask her tonight to help us live as she lived.
To hear God’s word.
To keep it.
To trust Him when His will is difficult.
To remain faithful beneath the Cross.
And to fix our hearts upon that day when death itself will be swallowed up in victory.
Mary has reached the home for which we were created.
Let us seek her prayers, that we may follow where she has gone before.
St. Mary's, St. John Bosco and St. Edward's 