Today we celebrate the feast of the Assumption of Mary, when Mary returned body and soul before Her Son in Heaven. “Preserved immune,” as Pope Pius XII said it, the one who decreed this feast, “from the corruption of the tomb…there to sit in splendor at the right hand of her Son, the immortal King of ages.”

For, unlike Eve who disobeyed God’s requests, when God asks Mary, she always says “yes.” This is why we call Mary the “New Eve” and why being preserved from the stain of sin, she was preserved from the wages of sin, which is, indeed, death itself.

So that, as a result, her life was simply a life of humble praise and adoration to God who bestowed upon her such a great and immaculate grace. It is no wonder then, that our Gospel today is the Magnificat, one of the greatest prayers of humility and praise.

For, Mary runs in haste to greet her cousin Elizabeth, to share the excitement of both of their pregnancies, yet somehow she becomes the center of attention and Elizabeth turns to Mary and says “how is it that the mother of my Lord should come to me.” Yet, Mary turns the attention to where it should be, on God Himself, with that simple proclamation, “my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.”

Yet, this translation is not entirely accurate, the proper translation of what Mary says is actually: “my soul magnifies the greatness of the Lord,” which, incidentally, is why we call it the Magnificat. And, while it may seem to be splitting hairs, that one word emphasizes this proclamation and truly conveys the fullness of her meaning, of what it is she wants to say.

For, to proclaim something is to make it known, to make others see what they may not see themselves, yet, when something is magnified it is seen a lot clearer, a lot larger, and, in more detail, yet the most important thing is that the magnifying glass, as it were, becomes secondary to the thing being magnified. In other words, though the magnifying glass is important, its purpose is not on itself, but on what it shows.

For, just as Mary was and is important to us and to the entire plan of salvation, her purpose was never to focus on that plan but to focus on Him who allowed her to be part of that plan.

That is why her departure from this world was nothing more than a mere continuation of her life here on earth, because her life was an unbroken “yes” to God, which reached its culmination when she entered Heaven.

And, while her life was unique, being free from sin, she is our model of virtue and our model of holiness, for, though she sets the bar high, her life is the life we should all strive to imitate and to follow. To see each day as a new opportunity to praise and proclaim the greatness of the Lord, to be that source of magnification, the microscope, the magnifying glass, as it were, that is constantly seeking and always finding new ways of letting God be known to the world.

So that with the same prayer of Mary, this Magnificat, upon our lips, we, too, will be able to confidently say: “all generations shall call me blessed, because the Almighty has done great things for me.” And, by following Mary’s example, Mary’s humility, Mary’s life, we can hope for her same reward, where the culmination of our own life will be fulfilled and we will, at last, be truly home in Heaven.