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Beloved Brothers and Sisters,
Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, body and soul, into Heaven. We also celebrate the consecration of our dear sisters to the religious life. These may appear to be two distinct events, but in truth, they intersect around a single question that has preoccupied humanity from ancient times until today: What does it mean to be human?
Our world today searches tirelessly for the purpose of human existence. Some see it in success, others in wealth, power, fame, or pleasure. Yet despite all the progress humanity has achieved in every field, the question remains deep within us: Who am I? His Holiness the Pope gave a deeply meaningful title to his recent message when he referred to “Splendid Humanity.”
For humans cannot understand themselves unless they return to their origin. We are not merely beings living between birth and death; we are created in the image of God. Therefore, the closer a person draws to God, the closer they come to their true self, and the further they stray from Him, the more they lose the meaning of their existence. It is for this reason that Jesus Christ warns us:
“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36).
A person may possess everything, yet if they lose themselves, they lose all. They may appear successful in the eyes of the world, but they remain thirsty for meaning if they do not find God at the center of their lives.
In this search for human meaning, the Church sets before us today the person of the Virgin Mary.
The Feast of the Assumption is not merely the celebration of a privilege given to a single individual; it is the revelation of human destiny as God intended it. In Mary, we see humanity as God willed it from the beginning—a woman who lived faith, love, obedience, and total openness to God’s will in their fullness. Thus, when her earthly journey came to an end, she received the fullness of glory in Heaven, body and soul. The Assumption reveals to us what a human being can become when they allow God’s grace to work within them.
When we contemplate Mary’s life, we find that the secret of her greatness begins with a single response: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). In that moment, Mary did not lose her freedom—she found it. She did not lose herself—she discovered her true identity. She became fully human because she opened her heart completely to God. That is why, when someone praised Jesus’ mother, the Lord replied: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:28).
It is as though He was saying that Mary’s greatness lies not only in being Christ’s mother according to the flesh, but because she heard the word of God and lived by it. She is the most beautiful model of a human being who found the meaning of life in God.
From this context, we also understand the significance of celebrating the consecration of our sisters to the religious life today.
In a world asking What is the meaning of being human?, these young women offer a bold and prophetic answer. They do not reject their humanity; rather, they strive to live it more deeply. Consecration is not an escape from life, but an entry into its depths. It is not a rejection of the world, but a testimony to what the world needs now more than ever: that a person finds oneself not through possession, but through giving; not through selfishness, but through love; not through self-sufficiency, but through openness to God.
Today, they echo with Mary: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord.” They place their lives into God’s hands with complete trust, believing that whoever surrenders their life to God does not lose it, but finds it. Did not Jesus say: “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Mark 8:35)?
Beloved friends, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and the consecration of these sisters present us today with a complete image of the Christian calling. Mary, assumed into Heaven, reveals the end of the journey. The consecrated sisters remind us of its beginning. In Mary, we see what a human being can become when living for God with all their heart. In the consecrated sisters, we see the courage that says Yes to God today and begins the journey.
A person is fulfilled not by possessing, but by giving; not by success alone, but by holiness; not by closing inward, but by opening outward to God.
+ Bishop Iyad Twal
August 15, 2026
