HOMILY – SOLEMNITY OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
15 August 2026
Revelation 11:19a; 12:1–6a, 10ab | Psalm 45 | 1 Corinthians 15:20–27 | Luke 1:39–56
“WHEN YOUR SOUL IS HUNGRY FOR MORE”
Introduction
Today, I want to speak to you personally.
Not to a crowd.
Not to a parish.
Not to an audience.
To you.
Because somewhere beneath everything you do, there is a part of you that is searching.
You may not always talk about it.
You may cover it with work, relationships, entertainment, possessions, social media, success, ministry, achievement or even religious activity.
But there is a question that eventually finds every human being:
“Is this all there is?”
Why do I still feel restless after achieving what I thought would make me happy?
Why can I be surrounded by people and still feel lonely?
Why can I pray and still feel empty?
Why does my heart continue searching when I already have so much?
The Assumption of Mary gives us a startling answer.
You were made for more.
The human heart was not created merely for this world. We were created for communion with God. The Church sees Mary, assumed body and soul into heavenly glory, as a sign and anticipation of the destiny God desires for His people.
The Assumption is therefore not simply a celebration about what happened to Mary.
It is a revelation about what God is doing with humanity.
Mary's destination tells us something about ours.
A LIFE STORY
A man went to the doctor and said,
“Doctor, I have a terrible problem. I feel empty inside.”
The doctor examined him and said,
“I think I know what you need.”
The man became excited.
“What, Doctor?”
“More shopping!”
The man replied, “I've already tried that.”
“More television?”
“Done that.”
“More holidays?”
“Done that too.”
The doctor scratched his head.
“Then I think you have a serious case.”
The man asked, “What is wrong with me?”
The doctor replied:
“You are trying to fill a spiritual hole with material things.”
We laugh because we recognise ourselves.
Sometimes we keep adding things to our lives when what we really need is to go deeper into our lives.
We buy more.
We consume more.
We scroll more.
We talk more.
We work more.
And somehow the soul remains hungry.
Why?
Because the soul has a hunger that created things cannot satisfy.
The Word
1. The Woman Clothed with the Sun
The First Reading gives us a dramatic vision:
A woman clothed with the sun.
The moon beneath her feet.
A crown of twelve stars.
She is pregnant.
She is in labour.
And there is a dragon waiting to destroy the child.
This is not a picture of a comfortable spiritual life.
There is beauty.
But there is also struggle.
There is glory.
But there is also pain.
There is a promise.
But there is also opposition.
That is important for you to hear.
Following God does not mean that your life will become free from struggle.
Mary was chosen by God, yet her life was not easy.
She had to trust when she did not understand.
She had to travel.
She had to give birth in difficult circumstances.
She had to flee.
She had to watch her Son suffer.
She stood beneath the Cross.
And yet her story did not end at the Cross.
Her story ended in glory.
That is the message of the Assumption.
Your present struggle does not have the authority to write the final chapter of your life.
2. Paul: Christ Is the Firstfruits
Paul says something extraordinary:
“Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
The firstfruits are the beginning of the harvest.
They are a sign that more is coming.
Christ's resurrection is therefore not an isolated miracle.
It is a promise.
And Mary, in the mystery of her Assumption, becomes a unique sign of that promise: in her, the Church sees the fulfilment of what Christ's victory over death means for humanity.
Think about what this means.
Your body matters.
Your life matters.
Your tears matter.
Your history matters.
Your struggles matter.
Your ordinary human existence matters.
Christianity does not teach us to despise our humanity.
It teaches us that God wants to redeem and glorify it.
The Assumption is God's declaration:
Death does not have the final word.
Failure does not have the final word.
Pain does not have the final word.
Sin does not have the final word.
Christ has the final word.
3. Mary Goes to Elizabeth
Then the Gospel takes us away from heaven and brings us into an ordinary house.
Mary visits Elizabeth.
Mary has just received a life-changing calling from God.
She could have stayed at home thinking about herself.
Instead, she goes to someone who needs her.
And something beautiful happens.
Elizabeth recognises God's presence in Mary.
The child in Elizabeth's womb leaps for joy.
Mary responds with the Magnificat:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.”
Mary's greatness is not that she has everything under control.
Her greatness is that she trusts God.
Elizabeth calls her blessed because she believed that God's promise would be fulfilled.
That is the heart of Mary's spirituality:
She believed before she understood everything.
THE JESUS MOMENT
Here is the Jesus moment for you today.
Imagine Mary standing before Elizabeth.
Mary is carrying Jesus.
Elizabeth cannot yet see Him.
But He is there.
Hidden.
Silent.
Unseen.
And yet He is already changing everything.
This is how God often works in your life.
You may not see what God is doing.
You may think nothing is happening.
You may be waiting for something dramatic.
But God may already be carrying something new inside your life.
A new beginning.
A new vocation.
A healing.
A conversion.
A reconciliation.
A deeper understanding.
A new purpose.
A new relationship with Him.
Something can be growing in you before it becomes visible to you.
Mary teaches you not to despise hidden beginnings.
Jesus spent nine months hidden in Mary's womb.
He spent years hidden in Nazareth.
God is not afraid of hiddenness.
Perhaps the work God is doing in you is hidden right now.
Do not give up simply because you cannot yet see the harvest.
THREE PRACTICAL LESSONS FOR TODAY
1. Stop trying to satisfy a spiritual hunger with material things
Ask yourself honestly:
What am I using to escape my inner emptiness?
Work?
Money?
Relationships?
Alcohol?
Food?
Entertainment?
Social media?
Recognition?
Even religious activity?
Some things are not necessarily bad.
But nothing created can become your ultimate fulfilment.
If you ask another human being to give you what only God can give, you will eventually exhaust both yourself and that person.
Go deeper.
Spend time with God.
Sit quietly.
Pray honestly.
Bring Him your emptiness instead of hiding it.
Tell Him:
“Lord, I have tried many things. But my soul is still hungry. Teach me to desire You.”
2. Say your “yes” even when you cannot see the whole journey
Mary's life changed with one word:
Yes.
She did not receive the entire map.
She received an invitation.
And she trusted.
You may be waiting until everything is clear before you obey God.
You may be saying:
“When I understand everything, then I will move.”
But faith does not always give you the whole road.
Sometimes it gives you enough light for the next step.
Mary's journey from Nazareth to heaven was a pilgrimage of faith—a journey marked by trust and perseverance.
So ask yourself today:
What is the “yes” God is asking from me now?
Not tomorrow.
Not next year.
Today.
3. Turn your encounter with God into service
Mary receives Jesus—and immediately goes to Elizabeth.
That is profoundly important.
A genuine encounter with God does not make you self-absorbed.
It sends you towards others.
If prayer makes you kinder, it is bearing fruit.
If prayer makes you more forgiving, it is bearing fruit.
If prayer makes you more compassionate, it is bearing fruit.
If prayer makes you more available to people who are suffering, it is bearing fruit.
Mary carries Christ to Elizabeth.
You are also called to carry Christ into someone's life.
Someone may need your phone call.
Someone may need your forgiveness.
Someone may need your encouragement.
Someone may simply need you to sit beside them.
Do not keep Jesus locked inside your private spirituality.
Carry Him to someone who needs hope.
GOOD NEWS FOR TODAY
Here is the Good News of the Assumption:
Your life is going somewhere.
You are not wandering aimlessly through existence.
You have a destiny.
The Church looks at Mary and sees the fulfilment of Christian hope: the human person called to full communion with God.
That means your story is bigger than your present circumstances.
If today you are struggling, there is still hope.
If today you are lonely, there is still hope.
If today you have failed, there is still hope.
If today you are beginning again, there is still hope.
If today you feel that life has not become what you imagined, there is still hope.
Mary's Assumption tells you:
God does not abandon what He has created.
He is leading His children towards fullness.
AN IMPORTANT WORD ABOUT YOUR BODY AND YOUR LIFE
There is something else profoundly beautiful about this feast.
Mary is not merely a soul floating somewhere in heaven.
The Assumption celebrates her glorification in body and soul.
The Christian hope is not an escape from being human.
It is the transformation and fulfilment of human existence in God.
That means you should not hate yourself.
Do not despise your body.
Do not despise your history.
Do not despise your age.
Do not despise the ordinary circumstances of your life.
God can take what seems ordinary and fill it with glory.
Mary was a young woman from an obscure village.
And yet heaven was already looking at her.
Perhaps you feel insignificant.
Perhaps you think your life has not amounted to much.
Do not measure your worth by the world's applause.
Heaven measures differently.
Mary was humble.
Mary was available.
Mary believed.
Mary loved.
Mary served.
And God did great things through her.
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE
“The Assumption reminds us that our deepest destiny is not to possess more, achieve more or be admired more, but to become fully alive in God.”
CONCLUSION
Perhaps you came to this feast carrying a deep restlessness.
You have searched.
You have tried.
You have succeeded at some things and failed at others.
You have loved.
You have been hurt.
You have prayed.
You have doubted.
You have started again.
And still something inside you says:
“There must be more.”
Yes.
There is more.
Mary's Assumption points beyond this temporary world towards the fullness for which your heart was created.
But notice where Mary's journey begins.
Not in heaven.
It begins with a young woman saying:
“Let it be done to me according to your word.”
Then she gets up.
She goes to Elizabeth.
She serves.
She suffers.
She perseveres.
She remains faithful.
And eventually, she is taken into glory.
That is your invitation too.
Don't spend your whole life waiting to become someone else.
Start saying yes to God where you are.
Start with what is in front of you.
Love someone.
Forgive someone.
Pray again.
Serve someone.
Begin again.
Trust again.
And when you cannot see the whole road, remember Mary.
She did not have the whole map.
She had God.
And that was enough.
PRAYER
Mary, Mother of God and Mother of Hope,
Today I bring you the deepest desires of my heart.
You know the places where I am restless.
You know the questions I cannot answer.
You know the disappointments I carry quietly.
You know the dreams that have not yet come true.
You know the wounds I hide from others.
And you know the hunger within me for something greater than this world can give.
Teach me your way of saying yes to God.
Teach me to trust when I cannot see.
Teach me to wait when I want immediate answers.
Teach me to remain faithful when the journey becomes difficult.
Help me not to fill my heart with things that cannot satisfy it.
Lead me to your Son, Jesus Christ.
When I am discouraged, remind me that my present circumstances are not my final destiny.
When I feel insignificant, remind me that God can do great things through humble people.
When I am afraid of the future, remind me that God is already there.
When I am tempted to give up, help me remember that Christ has conquered death and that His resurrection is the promise of our own resurrection.
Mary, teach me to carry Christ to others as you carried Him to Elizabeth.
May my presence bring joy.
May my words bring hope.
May my life become a place where others encounter God.
And when my earthly journey is complete, may I share with you the fullness of life for which God created me.
Mary, Assumed into Heaven, pray for us.
Lead us to Jesus.
Teach us to hope.
Teach us to say yes.
Amen.
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