Assumption

The contemporary Catechism of the Catholic Church has this to say about the Blessed Virgin's Assumption into Heaven:

"Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death." The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians: In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death. (Paragraph 966)

And, because Mary is the human incarnation of the Church herself, this means that what she experienced is the goal of all the Church. She experienced this, so that we too can experience it. If we remain faithful to the end (as she did) we can experience all the graces that she did. What a great encouragement to our faith to know that the Blessed Mother of our Lord has gone before to show us what we can do if we remain "in Christ" as she did.