The Solemnity of the Assumption of
the Blessed Virgin Mary
On August 15th
Holy Mother Church commemorates the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin Mary. It was on November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII defined the
Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of faith: “We pronounce, declare and define it
to be a divinely revealed dogma that the immaculate Mother of God, the ever
Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body
and soul to heavenly glory.”
As a dogma
of faith, we as Catholics are expected to believe that the Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary to be true and real. In the Office of Readings for this
feast, we read from Pope Pius XII, “In their homilies and sermons on this feast
the holy fathers and great doctors spoke of the assumption of the Mother of God
as something already familiar and accepted by the faithful.”
Why would
Mary deserve such an honor as to be assumed body and soul into heaven? We see
in scripture the kind of life that Mary lived and that she was chosen to be the
Mother of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. Pope Pius XII goes on to say, quoting St.
John Damescene, “It was necessary that she who had preserved her virginity
inviolate in childbirth should also have her body kept free from all corruption
after death. It was necessary that she who had carried the Creator as a child
on her breast should dwell in the tabernacle of God.”
Mary’s whole
life was centered on doing the Will of God. She not only said “yes” to the
angel Gabriel in agreeing to be the Mother of the Savior, she was also part of
His whole life, following Jesus throughout his ministry, and finally standing
at the foot of the Cross watching Her Divine Son give His life for the
salvation of the world. Her whole life centered on doing the Holy Will of God.
Mary is to
be an example of how we are to live our lives. We are called to carry Jesus in
a different way. Mary carried Jesus in her womb and gave birth to Him physically
more than 2,000 years ago. We, as Catholics, carry Jesus in ourselves whenever we receive
Holy Communion. As Catholics, we know that the Host we receive at Mass is the
Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. We are called, like Mary, to
bring Jesus into a world that needs His presence.
One of the
choices for dismissal at Mass is, “Go in peace glorifying the Lord by your
life.” We do this by bringing Jesus into the world! Let us, like Mary, attempt
to do God’s will by bringing peace into a world that so desperately needs His
peace.
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