The feast of the Assumption is a bright spot in a hot summer. As the opening prayer of the Mass has it: she was assumed, body and soul, into heaven.
Another response in the breviary says that he has taken her to live with him. She was with him at his birth. She was with him during his years of formation. She was with him during his public ministry. She was with him at his death. Her whole vocation seems to be summarized in those two words: she is called to be with him.
She is also called to be with his Church. She was with the Church in those fearful days after his death. She was with the Church when word first went out that he was alive. She was with the Church on that first Pentecost when the Spirit of Jesus was poured out upon them. Her whole vocation seems to be summarized in those three words: she is called to be with his Church.
And how is she called to do that? The Preface of the feast says she is the pattern that we are to follow. She is the first. We are to follow in her footsteps: to be with him and with his Church forever.
The feast of the Assumption is thus a feast of Hope. It is possible for a human being to be in heaven, body and soul. She has shown us the way. It is possible. A bright spot in a hot summer. A bright, bright spot, indeed.