>>”Made up.”

I’ve actually heard people say that with my own ears. They are Christians, not Catholics, who express that feeling, “made up,” when it comes to Mary and feast like we celebrate today – the assumption of Mary. They think that somehow we Catholics just pulled these things out of the air.

But what they don’t understand and perhaps sometimes you may not understand is how the faithful over the past 2,000 years have tried to understand more fully who Mary was and the role that she played in our salvation and who she is now for the life of the church.

And so, in a nutshell here’s why it’s fitting for us to believe the things that we do about Mary. Our belief does not stand alone, it’s not a belief in isolation. But it’s intertwined intimately with that which we believe about her son, Jesus. Our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

And this is true about what we’re celebrating today. This beautiful feast of the assumption of Mary. We believe that when her earthly life ended she was assumed, body and soul into heaven to be united perfectly with her son.

And isn’t that fitting? That the one who bore the savior in her womb would not suffer corruption and decay of her body.

Mary was the perfect vessel for the incarnation and her death could not change that. What a beautiful teaching of our church. One that you can now share with anyone you may come across who will say, “Ah, that’s made up. It’s pulled out of the air.”

No, it’s not made up at all. But it’s a beautiful and fitting teaching and belief in our faith.

And friends, it takes faith to believe that what is truly fitting for us is something that we hold dear to our hearts as we celebrate Mary’s assumption today.

As we remember this great gift of our faith in Mary’s assumption let’s not forget our destination, our hope, our home are the exact same as hers. God didn’t want anything less for Mary and God wants nothing less for us.