“The Most Blessed Virgin Mary, when the course of her earthly life was completed, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven, where she already shares in the glory of her Son’s Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of his Body” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 974).

“In this magnificent way all may see clearly to what a lofty goal our bodies and souls are destined. Finally it is our hope that belief in Mary’s bodily Assumption into heaven will make our belief in our own resurrection stronger and render it more effective” (Pope Venerable Pius XII, Apostolic Constitution, “Munificentissimus Deus,” defining the dogma of the Assumption on November 1, 1950). The Assumption points to the dignity of every human body and the glory every human is made for. Do we treat our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit? Do we revere that in others?

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Reflection by Brad Farmer