My guess is that for most of us, when we thing of today's feast, the Assumption of Mary, our minds go immediately to what will happen to us after death. The opening prayer for today's mass focuses our attention on something more immediate.
...grant, we pray,
that, always attentive to the things that are above,
we may merit to be sharers of her glory.
Always attentive to the things that are above? How do we do that when the things (and people) here on earth are constantly, not just asking for but, demanding our attention?
We start by remembering that we are transcendent beings. However earthbound as we may feel, we were created to be with God for eternity. As such our souls are constantly yearning for God. As much as our bodies need air and water, our souls need prayer.
At its most basic, this means starting our day by turning our hearts to God, and then throughout the day pausing to check and make sure our hearts stay pointed in the right direction. Then one final course check before we go to sleep at night. In this way we can be constantly attentive to the things that are above and still deal properly with the things here on earth. As a matter of fact we will deal with the mundane better, if our hearts are constantly oriented toward God.
