Dear Parishioners,
This Sunday we celebrate the Assumption of Mary. Have you ever wondered why the church uses the word “assumption” instead of “ascension” for this dogma of faith? The Catholic Church teaches that Mary was Assumed body and soul into heaven, but artistic representations throughout the centuries have portrayed our Blessed Mother as Ascending into heaven in a similar fashion as Christ, perhaps carried on the wings of Angels. The reality is assumption is a deeply biblical concept, but is brought about by God’s action. In contrast, an ascension is only recorded once in Sacred Scripture, and it implies that the one who ascends does so by their own power. Therefore, “No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man.” It is only Jesus, the Son of God, who can ascend and descend from heaven by His own power. Truly the Feast of the Assumption is good news for all of us who believe in the resurrection of Christ from the dead. We see the Easter promise of our salvation realized in the Assumption of Mary. Mary is the first to receive the fullness of the redemption that her son has won for all of humanity.
God Bless,
Deacon Howard
