MARY, OUR STAR OF HOPE

The assumption of Mary is the fulfillment of the plan of God for her; from her conception to the end of her earthly life; salvation from the sting of death. Her assumption becomes our sure hope of man’s participation in Christ resurrection on the last day (Jn 6:54).  

The plan of God for Mary is his plan too for all of us; to be with Him body and soul in heaven. God has a plan for us. He fulfills His plan until the end. Mary is our assurance of this. Time and again Mary’s life assures us that God will fulfill his promise to us. In the book of Genesis (Gen 3:15) we were promised of a Savior who will crush the head of the serpent. Mary gave birth to our Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus promised us resurrection (Jn 6:54). Mary was taken body and soul to heaven, an anticipation of the glorious resurrection that is due to all faithful Christians.  

God’s plan to man was fulfilled in Mary because of Mary’s cheerful cooperation with God’s plan. God’s plan for you can be fulfilled too if like Mary we give our Fiat to God; if we like Mary learn to sing Magnificat for God’s blessings and graces, if we like Mary will keep God’s commandment by heart; and if like Mary standing by her Son on the foot of the cross, standing for her Son, we too will stand against sin. With Mary as our model Christian, we will surely be led to Christ. We too will be assumed in Heaven, body, and soul, on the last day. God promised a plan. He fulfilled it in Mary. He will fulfill it to us, with our Fiat, Magnificat, Conservabat, and Stabat. Her assumption is our goal and our assurance, if only we cheerfully cooperate in God’s plan.  

Who can help us to go to heaven? Who can help us as we tread our way to God? Who can help us fulfill God’s will and commandment? Mary, being in Heaven with God, can be our help. In her, we find a mother who will intercede for us before the throne of her Son. Pope Benedict XVI wrote that “precisely because Mary is with God and in God, she is very close to each one of us. While she lived on this earth she could only be close to a few people. Being in God, who is actually ‘within’ all of us, Mary shares in this closeness of God.” Our Lady “knows our hearts, can hear our prayers, can help us with her motherly kindness. She always listens to us and, being Mother of the Son, participates in the power of the Son and in his goodness. We can always entrust the whole of our lives to this Mother.” Being with God, and God being in each one of us, Mary is in us, very close to us. She can hear the beat of our hearts. Next to Christ, Mary is our mediator of divine grace (Leo XIII, Iucunda Semper Expectatione), our Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix and Mediatrix (Lumen Gentium, 62). Pope John Paul II explained, "As maternal Mediatrix, Mary presents our desires and petitions to Christ, and transmits the divine gifts to us, interceding continually on our behalf" (General Audience, Sept. 24, 1997). Pope Benedict XVI said: “For over a thousand years, the Church has greeted Mary, the Mother of God, as ‘Star of the Sea’: Ave maris stella! Human life is a journey. Life is like a voyage on the sea of history, often dark and stormy, a voyage in which we watch for the stars that indicate the route. They are lights of hope. Who more than Mary could be a star of hope for us?” (Spe Salvi, 49). 

With this, we can only say, “Hail Mary, assumed into heaven, our Star of Hope, assure us, inspire us, pray for us.”