Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven

1) Where's Heaven? Here. Jesus Christ is Heaven. Benedict XVI wrote: "Jesus himself is what we call 'heaven;' heaven is not a place but a person, the person of him in whom God and man are forever and inseparably one. And we go to heaven and enter into heaven to the extent that we go to Jesus Christ and enter into him. In this sense, 'ascension into heaven' can be something that takes place in our everyday lives" (J. Ratzinger, "Dogma and Preaching" Franciscan Herald Press (1985) 63).

This means that our Lady is assumed into Christ.

2) How did this happen? She took the Son of God into herself. "She heard the Word of God and did it." Faith means to become one with the Person of Christ who is Revelation.

3) She did this so radically, that she became "blessed." Today's Gospel: Elizabeth pronounces: "Blessed is she who believed." That is, Assumed is she who believed.

4) You will be assumed into haven if you live the faith moment by moment in a burgeoning self-gift.

Then, to help, consider the congruence of the assumption of Joseph into heaven:

If our Lady is “Blessed” because she believed, that means that she was assumed into heaven because of her self-gift of faith at the Annunciation. But the faith of Mary is met by the faith of Joseph (John Paul II, “Redemptoris Custos”). Therefore, Joseph entered into the engendering of Jesus Christ as God-man in a way analogous to our Lady. Consider the remarks of John XXIII who was the pope who inserted the name of St. Joseph in the Roman Canon.

- Blessed Pope John XXIII,

Homily for the Canonization of St. Gregory Barbargio,
May 26, 1960

We could believe that Jesus’ love for his father on earth would be enough to raise him body and soul into Heaven, just as He did for Our Lady. Just as the Holy Family were a trinity on the earth, so too are they united in Heaven. Joseph retains his rightful position as Head of the Holy Family, Spouse of the Virgin and Guardian of the Redeemer. Many saints, such as St. Bernardino of Sienna and St. Francis de Sales, are in agreement that Jesus did indeed grant Joseph this grace. Since Jesus and Mary ascended into Heaven in the glory of body and soul, so too could we believe this in regards to St. Joseph. How many times, Joseph had picked up the Child Jesus who was both his son and Lord, kissing and embracing him. Would Jesus not remember this just man who cared so tenderly for him, who worked so hard to provide for him, who protected and honoured him more than any other man could? Yes, by granting him the sublime privilege of uniting his body and soul in a glorified state in the splendour of Heaven.

“How could we doubt that Our Lord raised
glorious St. Joseph up into Heaven, body and soul?
For he had the honour and grace of carrying Him so often in his blessed arms,
… St. Joseph is therefore in Heaven body and soul, without a doubt.”

- St. Francis de Sales
Sermon on St. Joseph

In the same way that Mary was assumed into Heaven, it is thought
that Jesus deigned to glorify Joseph on the day of the Resurrection.
In this way, all of the Holy Family – Jesus, Mary and Joseph –
who lived together on earth, would reign together in Heaven.

St. Francis de Sales

Sermon on St. Joseph

“How could we doubt that Our Lord raised glorious St. Joseph up into Heaven, body and soul? For he had the honour and grace of carrying Him so often in his blessed arms, …
St. Joseph is therefore in Heaven body and soul, without a doubt.”

St. Bernardino of Sienna

In the same way that Mary was assumed into Heaven, it is thought that Jesus deigned to glorify Joseph on the day of the Resurrection. In this way, all of the Holy Family – Jesus, Mary and Joseph – who lived together on earth, would reign together in Heaven.

Blessed Pope John XXIII,
Homily for the Canonization of St. Gregory Barbargio, May 26, 1960

“We name two intimate persons in (Christ’s) life, John the Baptist, the Precursor, and St. Joseph of Nazareth, his putative father and custodian. It corresponds to them — we can piously believe — the honour and the privilege of (Christ) allowing them to admirably accompany him (on the day of his Ascension) on the path to Heaven.”