Conformity as Our Way of Life
Upon the completion of her earthly life, Mary, the Mother of God, was taken to heaven, body and soul. Mary’s assumption into heaven in her entirety is inspirational and relates God’s desire for us—to be united with our Lord, in body and soul, for eternity.
To join God in heaven’s glory, we need to conform to God’s will. With this conformity, we can be raised in holiness during our lifetime to become true children of God. Mary, who was raised in holiness and conformed to God’s will, shows us the way.
Mary was born sinless and full of God’s grace, so how did she conform? As a human, Mary had free will. She conformed by making the right choices. With faith, hope, and love of God and humanity, Mary chose to adhere to God’s will, Jesus’ redemptive work, and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, even at the foot of her Son’s cross.
God trusted Mary to be the Mother of our Savior. Upon her assumption, God entrusted us to Mary, our Mother, to help us conform our lives so we can be brothers and sisters to Jesus Christ.
Open in body and soul, Mary accepted God’s love within her. With Mary’s intercession on our behalf and by the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s love can thrive within us when we open ourselves to Christ through the holy Eucharist.
Mary guides us by example to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit, who gives us the gift of wisdom. “Wisdom teaches her children and admonishes all who can understand her” (Sirach 4:11). With this wisdom, we can adhere to the Way, the Truth, and the Life that leads us to holiness—even in our darkest hour—for eternal life in heaven.
Our body is animated by a spiritual soul created by God (Catechism of the Catholic Church 364, 366). Fortified by the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ, we can become a living tabernacle, like Mary, with our Lord radiating through us. As Mary shares God’s grace, we can share our faith, hope, and love of God and humanity with people searching for salvation.
With Mary’s assumption into heaven—which Catholics celebrate August 15—her conformity was completed with her coronation as Queen of the Most Holy. At the final resurrection, our soul will be reunited with our body, according to the teaching of the Church found in our Catechism. “…Every spiritual soul is created immediately by God—it is not ‘produced’ by the parents—and also that it is immortal: it does not perish when it separates from the body at death, and it will be reunited with the body at the final Resurrection” (CCC 366). Thus, our conformity, which we pray will last a lifetime, will be completed as holy children of God.