The 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩, quoting 𝘓𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘶𝘮 teaches that “the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory.” In other words, Mary is the first participant in the fullness of Christ’s Resurrection.
In her great 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵, Mary is the new Isaiah, the new Jeremiah, the new Ezekiel, for she announces with greatest clarity and joy the coming of the Messiah. What was only vaguely foreseen in those great prophetic figures is now in clear focus: “𝘏𝑒 ℎ𝘢𝑠 𝑠𝘩𝑜𝘸𝑛 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑠𝘵𝑟𝘦𝑛𝘨𝑡𝘩 𝘰𝑓 ℎ𝘪𝑠 𝑎𝘳𝑚; 𝘩𝑒 ℎ𝘢𝑠 𝑠𝘤𝑎𝘵𝑡𝘦𝑟𝘦𝑑 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑝𝘳𝑜𝘶𝑑 𝑖𝘯 𝘵ℎ𝘦𝑖𝘳 𝘤𝑜𝘯𝑐𝘦𝑖𝘵; ℎ𝘦 𝘩𝑎𝘴 𝘧𝑖𝘭𝑙𝘦𝑑 𝑡𝘩𝑒 ℎ𝘶𝑛𝘨𝑟𝘺 𝘸𝑖𝘵ℎ 𝑔𝘰𝑜𝘥 𝘵ℎ𝘪𝑛𝘨𝑠 𝑎𝘯𝑑 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑟𝘪𝑐𝘩 𝘩𝑒 ℎ𝘢𝑠 𝑠𝘦𝑛𝘵 𝘢𝑤𝘢𝑦 𝑒𝘮𝑝𝘵𝑦. 𝘏𝑒 ℎ𝘢𝑠 𝑐𝘰𝑚𝘦 𝘵𝑜 𝑡𝘩𝑒 ℎ𝘦𝑙𝘱 𝘰𝑓 ℎ𝘪𝑠 𝑠𝘦𝑟𝘷𝑎𝘯𝑡 𝐼𝘴𝑟𝘢𝑒𝘭, 𝑓𝘰𝑟 ℎ𝘦 𝘩𝑎𝘴 𝘳𝑒𝘮𝑒𝘮𝑏𝘦𝑟𝘦𝑑 ℎ𝘪𝑠 𝑝𝘳𝑜𝘮𝑖𝘴𝑒 𝑜𝘧 𝘮𝑒𝘳𝑐𝘺, 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑝𝘳𝑜𝘮𝑖𝘴𝑒 ℎ𝘦 𝘮𝑎𝘥𝑒 𝑡𝘰 𝘰𝑢𝘳 𝘧𝑎𝘵ℎ𝘦𝑟𝘴, 𝑡𝘰 𝘈𝑏𝘳𝑎𝘩𝑎𝘮 𝘢𝑛𝘥 𝘩𝑖𝘴 𝘤ℎ𝘪𝑙𝘥𝑟𝘦𝑛 𝑓𝘰𝑟𝘦𝑣𝘦𝑟.” 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐬.
𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍; 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆. 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒚, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅, 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆, 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔.
Let us contemplate Mary’s critical role in salvation history, culminating in her bodily Assumption, which, like the Ascension of Jesus, draws us to a higher world.
-Bishop Robert Barron
