There is something deeply comforting to me about the Solemnity of the Assumption. We celebrate Mary being received into the fullness of God’s presence, but we do so remembering that her journey to that moment was not an easy one. Mary knew uncertainty, fear, displacement, grief and profound loss.
Trusting When We Cannot See
Sometimes, when we think of Mary, it can be easy to picture her surrounded by the beauty and serenity we see in sacred art.
But her actual life was much more complicated. She and Joseph were uprooted from their home. They fled with the infant Jesus into Egypt to protect him from Herod. Years later, Mary watched her Son be unjustly condemned and crucified, and she held him after he was taken down from the Cross.
I imagine there were many moments when Mary could not see where God was leading her. I think most of us know something about that feeling.
There are times in my own life when I would like to see the whole road ahead, to know how a difficulty will be resolved or to understand why something painful has happened.
But faith rarely gives us that kind of certainty. More often, it asks us to take the next step and to trust that God is taking that step with us. Mary shows us what that kind of trust can look like.
Through everything she endured, she believed that God treasured her, loved her and watched over her. Because of that trust, she could see beyond the sorrows and losses of her life toward God’s invitation to come home.
The Assumption reminds us that this invitation is not Mary’s alone. Her journey points toward the promise Christ makes to each of us: that suffering and death will not have the final word and that God desires to bring us into the fullness of life.
That promise can be especially important when life feels heavy. We all carry something. Perhaps we are grieving someone we love. Perhaps we are worried about a child or grandchild, caring for someone who is struggling or facing an uncertain future ourselves. Sometimes we simply become weary from carrying concerns that no one else can see.
Remaining at the Foot of the Cross
On this feast, I find myself thinking of Mary standing at the foot of the cross. She could not take away her son’s suffering, but she could remain with him in love.
There is something very Passionist about that.
We cannot always remove the crosses carried by the people we love. Sometimes the most faithful thing we can do is remain beside them, pray with them and remind them by our presence that they are not alone.
And Mary reminds us that the Cross is never the end of the story.
The Assumption is ultimately a feast of hope. It tells us that every sorrow we carry, every person we mourn and every part of our lives that we entrust to God is held within a love stronger than death.
As we celebrate Mary’s Assumption, my prayer for all of us is that we might have a little more of her trust: trust when we cannot see the road ahead, trust when our hearts are heavy and trust that the God who accompanies us through every cross is always leading us toward life.
May Mary help us believe, especially on the difficult days, that God treasures us, loves us and watches over us, and that in the end, God is calling each of us home.
