Pope Francis says that Mary is the gate of Heaven, there at the threshold of Paradise, waiting for us to arrive to our homeland. And with each Rosary we pray, we are taking a step toward that goal.
The pope said this before praying the midday Angelus on this great Marian feast day.
“Mary, who is a human creature, one of us, reaches eternity in body and soul,” he said, explaining that this is why we call her the Gate of Heaven.
“There she awaits us, just as a mother waits for her children to come home.” Seeing that “in paradise, together with Christ, the New Adam, there is also Mary, the new Eve, gives us comfort and hope in our pilgrimage down here.”
The pope said that the Feast of the Assumption is a call to those of us who live with doubts and sadness, with our eyes turned downward. This feast calls us to look up, to see that the “sky is open,” he said. We need not be afraid, because “on the threshold of Heaven there is a Mother waiting for us.”
Mary constantly reminds us that we are precious in the eyes of God, and that we are made for the great joys of Heaven. “Every time we take the Rosary in our hands and pray to her,” he said, “we take a step forward towards our life’s great goal.”
“Let us be attracted by true beauty,” urged Pope Francis. He encouraged us to turn away from the trifles of life: “prejudices, grudges, rivalries, envy, and superfluous material goods.”
“Let us not be drawn in by the petty things in life, but let us choose the greatness of Heaven, … the place where our true home lies.”
Read more:
Why the Assumption made perfect sense to Newman, and what it meant for him
And today we celebrate...