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Before praying the midday Angelus on this Solemnity of the Assumption, Pope Francis reflected on a phrase from Luke's Gospel. Right after the Angel had announced to her that she would be the Mother of the Messiah, Mary "sets out."
"We contemplate the young maiden of Nazareth who, upon receiving the Angel's announcement, sets out to visit her cousin," the Pope said, calling the expression "beautiful."
It means that Mary does not consider the news received from the Angel a privilege, but on the contrary, she leaves her home and sets out on her journey, with the haste of one who wishes to announce this joy to others and with the eagerness to place herself at the service of her cousin.
This first journey, in reality, is a metaphor for her whole life, because from that moment on, Mary will always be on the way: she will always be on the way following Jesus, as a disciple of the Kingdom. And, in the end, her earthly pilgrimage ends with her Assumption into Heaven, where, together with her Son, she enjoys forever the joy of eternal life.
Citing Italian writer and priest, Carlo Carretto, Pope Francis urged the faithful to imagine Mary as a "sister ... with worn-out sandals" not as an "immobile wax statue."
The Blessed Virgin is the One who precedes us on the journey - she precedes us, she precedes us - she precedes us on the journey, reminding us all that our life is also a journey, a continuous journey towards the horizon of the definitive encounter.
Let us ask Our Lady to help us on this journey towards the encounter with the Lord.
