For those who aren’t aware, this coming Friday August 15th is a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics in the United States. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, commemorating Mary’s body being taken up to heaven, is one of six prescribed days (in addition to Sundays) that Catholics in the United States are required to attend Mass. These Holy Days are January 1, the feast of Mary, the Mother of God; Ascension Thursday, 40 days after Easter; August 15, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; November 1, All Saints; December 8, the Immaculate Conception; and December 25, the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ..)
In my quest to become a more informed, faithful and knowledgeable "cradle Catholic", I wanted to spend some time leaning more about The Assumption of Mary and our beliefs about it. Embarrassingly, I continue to come across areas of my Catholic faith that I do not fully understand or even know much about. It is my hope that as I grow deeper in my faith knowledge, I will be able to share and enlighten my children in their own faith journey. So, here is my go at understanding and explaining this dogma of our faith...
On this feast of Mary we celebrate a special favor that God gave to Mary, our Mother. The Assumption means that Mary was taken up into the glory of heaven not only with her soul, but also with her body.
Jesus, the Son of God was born from Mary's pure womb. So when Mary died, God the Father and Jesus, would not let the body of the Mother of God be spoiled. This was her reward for her love of God and her years of faithful prayers and suffering.
Now Mary is in heaven. She is queen of heaven and earth. She is the Mother of Jesus' Church and queen of apostles. Every time Mary asks Jesus to give us graces, he listens to her request.
After the resurrection from the dead, we, too, can go to heaven with our bodies. Our bodies will be perfect. They will not suffer illness anymore. They will not need any more food and drink to keep alive. They will be beautiful and splendid! If we use our bodies now to do good, those bodies will share in our heavenly reward.
As we celebrate the feast day of Mary, let us ask Our Blessed Mother Mary to guide, protect and care for us.
