SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Tuesday - August 15, 2017

Tuesday - August 15, 2017

"That one woman is both mother and virgin, not in spirit only but even in body. In spirit she is mother, not of our head, who is our Savior himself—of whom all, even she herself, are rightly called children of the bridegroom—but plainly she is the mother of us who are his members, because by love she has cooperated so that the faithful, who are the members of that head, might be born in the Church. In body, indeed, she is the Mother of that very head"

--Saint Augustine

TODAY'S READINGS

 

August 15, 2017 - Solemnity Of The Assumption Of The Blessed Virgin Mary - Mass During The Day

 

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Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary -
Mass during the Day
Lectionary: 622

Reading 1RV 11:19A; 12:1-6A, 10AB

God's temple in heaven was opened,
and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.
Then another sign appeared in the sky;
it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns,
and on its heads were seven diadems.
Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky
and hurled them down to the earth.
Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth,
to devour her child when she gave birth.
She gave birth to a son, a male child,
destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.
Her child was caught up to God and his throne.
The woman herself fled into the desert
where she had a place prepared by God.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed One."

Responsorial PsalmPS 45:10, 11, 12, 16

R. (10bc) The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
The queen takes her place at your right hand in gold of Ophir.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear,
forget your people and your father's house.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
So shall the king desire your beauty;
for he is your lord.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
They are borne in with gladness and joy;
they enter the palace of the king.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.

Reading 21 COR 15:20-27

Brothers and sisters:
Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since death came through man,
the resurrection of the dead came also through man.
For just as in Adam all die,
so too in Christ shall all be brought to life,
but each one in proper order:
Christ the firstfruits;
then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ;
then comes the end,
when he hands over the Kingdom to his God and Father,
when he has destroyed every sovereignty
and every authority and power.
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death,
for "he subjected everything under his feet."

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Mary is taken up to heaven;
a chorus of angels exults.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelLK 1:39-56

Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
"Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled."

And Mary said:

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever."

Mary remained with her about three months
and then returned to her home.

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Sharing in Mary's Glory and Grace

                                      

Mary, the Blessed Mother of our Savior, lived a life full of God's grace. Today we celebrate the fact that she never lost this grace and therefore was "assumed" or transferred directly to heaven with a glorified body.

Mary was graced in a very powerful way so she could become pregnant with Jesus. God cannot dwell in a body that's been corrupted by sin. Although God today is able to dwell in us sinners, it's only because of our baptisms, which Mary did not have the opportunity to receive. Baptism frees us from the original, death-producing sin of Adam and Eve. Thanks be to God, Mary didn't need baptism: He created her through an immaculate conception, i.e., she was conceived without humankind's inheritance of sin.

Mary remained full of this special grace so that she could care for Jesus and guide him as he matured. Then she relied on it to care for the first Christians, a continuation of her ministry to Jesus. And she continues this caring support even now in her ministry to us.

Therefore, we can ask her to share with us the grace that helped her to resist sin. Consider the grace that's available in the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary:

The first one is the Resurrection of Jesus. As it says in today's second reading, "Christ has been raised from the dead.... For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be given life." We enter into Christ's life not only by believing that he died to give us life, but by imitating him to remain in his life.

The second Glorious Mystery is the Ascension of Jesus. As it says in today's first reading, "Her child was snatched up to God and his throne.... Now have salvation and power come ... and the authority of Christ the Anointed One." Even though the child Jesus respected Mary's authority as a parent, she freely gave herself over to his authority from the moment she said "yes, let it be done to me as the Father wills".  The more we let Jesus have authority in our lives, the more grace we receive.

The third Glorious Mystery is the Descent of the Holy Spirit. As it says in our Gospel reading today, "Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and cried out ... 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.'" It is only through the Holy Spirit that we are able to become aware of Christ's presence and blessings and grace in our lives.

The fourth Glorious Mystery is the Assumption of Mary into Heaven. As it says in today's first reading, "A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet." Mary is our sign of what being a holy Christian -- a grace-filled Christian -- really means.

The fifth Glorious Mystery is the Crowning of Mary as Our Queen. From the moment of her "yes" at the Annunciation, the Holy Spirit has been her Spouse, so of course she is Queen of the Universe. As it says in today's responsorial Psalm, "The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold." As our queen, she intercedes for us to the King. From this, much grace flows. And so we say to her:

Hail, holy Queen! Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope.
To you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.
To you do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn, then O most gracious advocate, your eyes of mercy toward us,
and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God
that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ!
Amen!

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God Bless You.....

Rosary Family

The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”