Rev. Charles Irvin, pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church, Manchester, Michigan, so eloquently summarized the final chapter of Mary's earthly life story in his homily for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15):

She is all that the Old Testament People of God should have been. She is the Ark of the Covenant which bears the Word of God within. She is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, carrying within her humanity the Presence of the Living God.
She is likewise all that the New Testament People of God ought to be. She is the Archetype of the Church, the Woman clothed with the sun, the Queen of the Apostles, the Mother of the Church . . . (Woman Of The New Covenant). Her flesh and blood were used to form the Word made human flesh.

The Feast of her Assumption tells us that she is likewise the model of our own future destiny. She represents all that God has in mind for our humanity, our destiny which we place in our Creed saying: "We believe in the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen."

One of the great themes in the theology of the Roman Catholic Church is that of the Mystical Body of Christ. The whole of the material order of the universe is to be reconstituted in Christ, including our own human bodies. By the power of the Holy Spirit, who conceived the Christ in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, and raised the crucified human body of Christ from the dead, by that same power our own humanity is joined into the risen and glorious humanity of Jesus Christ.

And so, "as we read the New Testament and ponder the life and role of Mary, we should not read it to see how DIFFERENT Mary's life is from ours, but how much our life is LIKE hers. Her life's story can be ours. Her Magnificat can be ours. Her relationship with her son can be ours. Her humanity and ours is now identified and re-constituted in her Son's, and so is ours, if we let God do His work within us."

FOR REFLECTION

• When? How do I make Mary's Magnificat mine?
• As I ponder Mary's relationship with Jesus, what similarities do I find to my relationship with Him?
• I stand, at times, beside a loved one who is being called to that last act of adoration in this life, the surrender of the human body, as we know it, in the act of dying. Do I, then, recall that by the power of the Holy Spirit, the reconstitution of the human body is taking place?
• Do I truly believe that by the Holy Spirit our "humanity is joined into the risen and glorious humanity of Jesus Christ?"
• What effect does this belief have on the story of my life? How does this belief make my life story like unto the life story of Mary?