THE ASSUMPTION OF MARY: A significance of God's great love.

Ancient tradition holds(just as can be read from the preface of the Mass of Mary's Assumption, Roman Missal), that on the third day after Mary's death, the Apostles went with some other disciples to adorn the tomb of the blessed Virgin Mary but upon arriving, found it empty and filled with flowers. Then they heard the chants of angels singing: "A Virgin before birth, a Virgin at birth, a virgin after birth" and at this instant they understood by inlosed knowledge that God had taken the body of blessed Virgin Mary into heaven.

The manifold of lessons which this action of God (of not leaving the body of His Holy Mother to suffer corruption nor wait till the last day to be reunited with her soul) teaches us that Mary is the faithful spouse of the Holy Spirit and the beloved daughter of the eternal Father, and can all be collectively learnt from Pope Pius XII's dogmatic constitution, Munificentissimus-Deus - on the Assumption of Mary, as well as ancient sermons on this subject by the Fathers (see St. Augustine for example, 4th Century) and from the generation of saints. Pope Nicholas 1 in the 9th Century fixed its celebration on August 15th.
(The death of Mary is celebrated on August 13th).

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DAILY REFLECTION: SATURDAY, 16TH DECEMBER, 2017

SATURDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OFADVENT TIME (Year II) First Reading: Sir 48:1-4. 9-11b Psalm: 80. R. v. 4 Gospel: Mt 17:9a. 10-13 The first reading of today reminds us of the great prophetic power of Elijah. He was a prophet feared by the people of his time. His deeds were wonderful and frightful. He called down fire from heaven, brought famine upon the land, and shut the heavens. The Jews feared and respected the prophet Elijah. According to the prophet Malachi (4:5-6), Elijah was to come before the Messiah. This was the reason why the disciples of Jesus while coming down from the mountain of transfiguration asked him of the coming of Elijah who was to come before him as prophesied by the Prophet.

DEATH IS A CERTAINTY.

"It is appointed unto men once to die."(Hebr: 9:27 The sentence of death has been written against all men: you are a man; you must die. “Our other goods and evils,” says St. Augustine, “are uncertain; death alone is certain” (Serm.97, E.H.). It is uncertain whether the infant that is just born will be poor or rich, whether he will have good or bad health, whether he will die in youth or in old age.

UNDERSTANDING THE HOLY EUCHARIST: The Real Presence of Christ.

The sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, is a sacrament instituted by Christ at the Last Supper when he told his Apostles: " This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19) While the other sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders, Holy Matrimony, Anointing of the Sick, Penance) give us grace, the Holy Eucharist gives us not just but grace, but also the author of grace, Jesus, God and Man. It is the center of all else the Church has and does.

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