Fourth Glorious Mystery: The Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven
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Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is alive with her Son in heaven. Alleluia!
She has been raised through him, with him, in him, into the glory of God’s eternal dwelling-place. Christ had said, ‘If I go and prepare a place for you, I shall come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also’ (Jn 14:3). Mary is privileged to be the first to follow her Son, body and soul, into heaven. She participates already in his bodily resurrection. Where Jesus is the ‘first-fruits’, Mary is chief among ‘those who belong to Christ’ (see 1 Cor. 15:23), showing what we too may achieve if we follow him faithfully.
In her earthly life, the Virgin Mary was Christ’s closest follower, from the moment of her fiat when she gave her life fully into God’s hands all the way to the foot of the Cross. Now that he is raised to new life, she shares in that glorious beatitude. Assumed body and soul into heaven, Mary’s privilege anticipates our own bodily glory in the general resurrection.It is indeed a privilege, not something Mary grasped for herself or earned by her own unaided efforts. Mary’s honour flows from the grace of Jesus. As God singled out Mary for the unique privilege of bearing his Only-Begotten Son, so Mary’s Assumption can be seen as another unique privilege of grace.
Let it remind us that ‘in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose’ (Rom. 8:28).
