Ordination at St. Patrick's Cathedral

Ordination at St. Patrick's Cathedral
June 19, 2010

Sunday, August 12, 2018

The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary


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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