“Mary set out to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth” (Lk. 1:39-40).
These words give us a glimpse into the character of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Once she learned of Elizabeth’s situation, she immediately acted out of charity, knowing her relative would need help during her pregnancy.
Whether we attend the vigil or the Mass during the day on the feast of the Assumption (a Holy Day of Obligation celebrated August 15), we hear in both Gospels of Mary’s faith in action.
It is Mary who trusts Jesus can do all things and that He desires good things for us. She is not just the God-bearer. More importantly, Jesus identifies her as one who hears the word of God and observes it (Lk. 11:28). Mary steeped herself in God’s Word, gave space to the Word, and listened. Knowing the Will of God, she enacted it. Her loving faith prompted her to make concrete decisions.
Intimacy with God does not mean a life without labors and trials. Mary endured pregnancy. She watched her Son be abused and executed. She endured years of not seeing her Son’s face after His Ascension. Finally, God called His Mother home.
Mary must have deeply anticipated this. She would behold her Son and be held by Him. The Western Church calls Mary’s departure from earth, body and soul, and entrance into Heaven the Assumption. (Eastern Christians refer to it as the Dormition.) Mary was assumed into paradise by God’s power.
But we would be wise to not presume our way into Heaven — either by our own merits or by a misunderstanding of God’s mercy.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that the “action of God is first on His own initiative, and then follows man’s free acting through his collaboration, so
that the merit of good works is to be attributed in the first place to the grace of God, then to the faithful” (CCC 2008). Any good work we do is God’s. Without His help, it would not happen.
We cannot rely on our merits for salvation. Nor can we presume upon God’s mercy to forgive sins we are not sorry for and which we do not try, with His help, to overcome. As Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Mt. 7:21).
In the Gospels, Jesus forgives many people’s sins, but
He also tells them to do something: Sin no more. Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow Him. This means we do the things we’d rather not do, and we do them out of love for God. The Cross cost Christ. Similarly, laboring for the Kingdom, carrying our crosses with the Lord, demands effort.
In The Soul of the Apostolate, Father Jean-Baptiste Chautard wrote that “exterior works of virtue and of mercy … and interior union with God by prayer … Every Christian is bound to practice both of these, and without them there is no Christian life.” God wants our faith enfleshed in our actions, a faith truly lived.
Mary did just this. She let God help her. She remained in His grace. She meditated on His Will and His actions. She also helped those around her. She fulfilled Pope Leo XIV’s exhortation: “In order to live eternally, we do not need to cheat death, but to serve life, by caring for others.” All the while, Mary desired Heaven.
We should model Mary, who shows us the way from
this earthly life to eternal bliss. Mary, Queen of Heaven, pray for us!
