by Faith Central & Steve Welsh
“… a woman from the crowd called out … ‘Blessed is the womb that carried You and the breasts at which You nursed.’ [Jesus] replied, ‘Rather, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and observe It.'”
On Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2017, the Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a Holy Day of Obligation. Catholics are required to participate in Mass (or Eastern Rite Catholic Divine Liturgy) on Wednesday, or on Tuesday evening at a Vigil Mass (absent a valid excuse, such as illness or the need to care for an ill family member).
The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary honors the Blessed Mother, with a special focus on the dogma that, with her entry into Eternal Life, she was Assumed Body and Soul into Heaven.
To miss Mass on Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation is a grave sin, absent a sufficient, valid excuse. In addition to the threat of eternal damnation, a grave sin bars a Catholic from receiving Holy Communion unless and until going to Confession to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
In the United States there has been a slight modification of the guidelines for Holy Days, by which U.S. Catholic Bishops have indicated that the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not, currently, a Holy Day of Obligation if it falls on a Saturday or Monday.
With regard to the Dogma of the Assumption, Venerable Pope Pius XII held, in his Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus Defining The Dogma Of The Assumption that:
“… 44. For which reason, after we have poured forth prayers of supplication again and again to God, and have invoked the light of the Spirit of Truth, for the glory of Almighty God who has lavished his special affection upon the Virgin Mary, for the honor of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages and the Victor over sin and death, for the increase of the glory of that same august Mother, and for the joy and exultation of the entire Church; by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, 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 into heavenly glory. …”
Catholic TV Mass for the Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr, Tuesday morning and mid-day (the evening time is the Vigil for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary), Aug. 14, 2018, from Catholic TV in the Archdiocese of Boston. [Click here for Mass Readings]
Catholic TV Mass for the Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr, Tuesday morning and mid-day (the evening is the Vigil for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary), Aug. 14, 2018, from Loretto Abbey in the Archdiocese of Toronto. [Click here for Mass Readings]
[featured image adapted from image at Creative Commons Wikimedia Commons Pjposullivan,
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Loretto_Abbey_chapel_interior,_Toronto.JPG, with additional conditions stated at that link and in the alt-tag here]
“‘Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. … [T]heir angels in heaven always look upon the Face of My Heavenly Father. … If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? …'”
Catholic TV Mass for Monday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Aug. 13, 2018, from Loretto Abbey in the Archdiocese of Toronto. [Click here for Mass Readings]
[featured image adapted from image at Creative Commons Wikimedia Commons Pjposullivan,
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Loretto_Abbey_chapel_interior,_Toronto.JPG, with additional conditions stated at that link and in the alt-tag here]
Catholic TV Mass for Monday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Aug. 13, 2018, from Catholic TV in the Archdiocese of Boston. [Click here for Mass Readings]
“… Jesus said to [His Disciples], ‘The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, and they will kill Him, and He will be Raised on the third day.’ … When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, ‘Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?’ * * * Jesus said to him, ‘… go to the sea, drop in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax. …'”
Catholic TV Mass for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Aug. 12, 2018, from Heart of the Nation in Wisconsin. [Click here for Mass Readings]
Catholic TV Mass for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Aug. 12, 2018, from the Archdiocese of Toronto. [Click here for Mass Readings]
[featured image adapted from image at Creative Commons Wikimedia Commons Pjposullivan,
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Loretto_Abbey_chapel_interior,_Toronto.JPG, with additional conditions stated at that link and in the alt-tag here]