From the Desk of Father Nathan

A Message from Father Nathan

My dearest people who are all close to my heart!

Lots of love, blessings, and prayers to you all.

The Feast of the Assumption of our Blessed Mother

August 15th should be one of the most important and memorable days for all Catholics. This is for the simple reason, that we will be celebrating the Assumption of our Blessed Mother.

This year, since it falls on a Monday, the churches in America have made it not a day of obligation. But may I request of all of us, to come for the 8:00 a.m. Mass that we have at our church and celebrate this as we have in the past many years.

the theology and the catechism of the Assumption of our Blessed Mother.

We will honor and praise our Blessed Mother for being the Mother of Christ and the Holy Mother of the Church. Let us try to understand the theology and the catechism of the Assumption of our Blessed Mother.

Addressing a jubilant crowd of over 500,000 people packed into St. Peter’s Square, Pope Pius XII solemnly defined in Munificentissimus Deus on November 1, 1950, 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”.

Although the solemn definition may have been at the midpoint of the twentieth century, the belief in the Assumption of our Blessed Mother exemplifies the dynamism of revelation and the Church’s ongoing understanding of it as guided by the Holy Spirit.

Why We Believe in the Assumption

Granted the Assumption does not appear in Sacred Scripture. For this reason, many fundamentalists who literally interpret the Bible would have difficulty with this belief. Nevertheless, we must first pause and reflect on the role of our Blessed Mother in the mystery of salvation, for this provides the foundation for the belief in the Assumption.

We firmly believe that for the first moment of her conception, Mary was free from all sin including Original Sin by special favor of Almighty God. The Archangel Gabriel recognized her as “full of grace”, “blessed among women” and “one with the Lord”. Mary had been chosen to be the Mother of the Savior. By the power of the Holy Spirit, she conceived our Lord, Jesus Christ, then through her, true God became also true man. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

Moreover, Mary stood at the foot of the cross with her Son, supporting Him and sharing in His suffering through her love as only a mother could do. Finally, she was with the Apostles at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended and the Church was born. Therefore, each of us can step back and see Mary as the faithful servant of God who shared intimately in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of our Lord.

For these reasons, we believe that the promises our Lord has given to each of us of sharing eternal life, including a resurrection of the body, were fulfilled in Mary. Since Mary is free of Original Sin and its effects(one of which is the corruption of the body at death), since she was present at Pentecost, this model disciple appropriately shared in the bodliy resurrection and glorification of the Lord at end of her life.

The Feast of the Assumption gives each of us great hope as we contemplate this one facet of the beautiful woman of faith, our Blessed Mother. Mary moves us by example and prayer to grow in God’s grace, to be receptive to His will, to convert our lives through sacrifice and penance, and seek that everlasting union in the Heavenly Kingdom.

God bless you all.

With lots of love and blessing.

Ever wanting to be faithful to your service.

—Fr. Sahayanathan Nathan