“When Jesus finished these words…” A version of that phrase marks the transition between each of the five “discourses” of the Gospel of Matthew. We hear those words this week, as Matthew concludes the fourth discourse and moves into the fifth.

As it turns out, this week is full of transitions.

This week, we celebrate the Assumption of Mary (Aug. 15). The Assumption marks the transition from Mary’s earthly life to her heavenly life. It’s also a pledge of how all the faithful can follow Jesus in making that transition into heaven.

The readings for the Assumption offer another example. We hear about David bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. Then we hear that Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant. This marks an important transition in how God is present to His people: First, He’s uniquely present in a thing (the ark), and then He’s uniquely present in a person (Mary). God is always deepening the way He’s present to us and inviting us to deepen our attentiveness to Him.

This week, we hear about the death of Moses, which marks a transition in Israel’s leadership from Moses to Joshua. Then we hear about the transition of Israel, as they move from the desert into the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua.

Joshua, by the way, is one English version of the Hebrew name Yeshua. The other English translation of that name is Jesus. It’s interesting to think about how, over a thousand years after Joshua, a new Yeshua (Jesus) will lead a new people of God (the Church) from a spiritual desert (sin) into a new Promised Land (heaven). That tells us something about how God works in the midst of transitions!

All of these are important Scriptural points of reference for us as we go through our own transitions.

We’re moving from summer into the school year. How are we letting God lead us through that transition?

We’re moving into new parish configurations and new priest assignments. Two weeks into that, how are we letting God lead us through that transition?

Finally, we’re also moving into a new mindset, a mode of being Catholic that’s more focused on evangelization. How are we doing receiving that mission from the Father? How are we doing letting Jesus show us how to proclaim the Gospel? How are we doing cooperating with the gifts of the Holy Spirit as we move into this new mode?

All through salvation history, when God wanted to make a transition and do something new, He waited for the “yes” of His people. When God wanted to take on flesh, He even waited for the “yes” of Mary. God is up to something new again in our day, inviting us to make a transition. We know in faith, and we see through all salvation history, that what He has in store is glorious! But He waits for our daily “yes,” as well.