Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary - 2025

Published: August 15, 2025

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor preached the following homily Aug. 15, 2025.

Bishop Taylor

As we grow up and mature, we come to learn more about the meaning of life and understand better what is really important. And reflecting on the past, we see that much of our present understanding comes from things that happened when we were children. 

Our family was where we first learned something about life, and the first thing we learned was that we belonged to the family. We were really part of it, an important and loved member. And as a member, whatever happened to the family happened also to us. If something good happened to a member of the family, we all shared his joy. In difficult times, we all made sacrifices. When one member suffered, we all shared his pain. By sharing in the life of the family, we learned to appreciate what it means “to belong.”

In our second reading today, St. Paul speaks about what it means to belong. Most of us have had a positive experience of belonging to a family. Here St. Paul tells us that in an even deeper way, we belong to Christ. He calls us to share life with him. We matter to him, and he loves us very much. 

Since we belong to him, we also feel his suffering. And we also share in his victories, and especially the joy of his resurrection. We too will arise to new life in and through Christ, and so St. Paul writes very clearly: Just as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will come to life again, but each one in proper order: Christ the first fruits, and then at his coming, all those who belong to him.

When we were children, most of us learned first that we belonged to our family, and then we learned how to act as an involved family member. We learned it by watching and imitating our parents and perhaps our brothers and sisters. 

This is part of what Mary means for us. No other human being shared life more totally with Christ than Mary. She belonged to him in the fullest sense of the word. She was with him in his moments of joy (for instance, his birth) and was with him in his agony (at the foot of the cross). Today, on the feast of her Assumption into heaven, we celebrate her special participation also in Christ’s resurrection.

Thus, we can learn a lot from Mary about how actively to share life with Jesus. By watching her and imitating her, we can discover and understand Christ more and more like she knew and understood him. We can come to appreciate more fully that we do belong to him. 

Inasmuch as we belong to him, we come to trust in his promise that we will live eternally with and through him. Today we have the Assumption of Mary, the first person to share fully in Jesus’ victory. One day, the rest of us who are faithful will also rise to share in his victory with her forever in heaven.