Glory to God in the highest,
and peace to His people on earth.
Lord God, heavenly King,
Almighty God and Father,
we worship You, we give You thanks,
we praise You for Your glory.
Lord Jesus Christ,
only Son of the Father,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
You take away the sin of the world:
have mercy on us;
You are seated at the right hand of the Father:
receive our prayer.
For You alone are the Holy One,
You alone are the Lord,
You alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ, …
Month: August 2021
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Our Mother has so many names which we can use to relate to her. This starts in the First Reading with the “Ark of the Covenant”. St. Ireneaus, a follower of St. Ignatius who is believed to have learned from St. John himself, is thought to have introduced this title, which ties in so much of the Christocentric nature of how the story of Salvation ties together from the Old to the New Testament.
The imagery used in Revelation can be very difficult to understand but perhaps one of the most common beliefs of this book is that the woman being referred to is our mother Mary, who also represents a model for the Church. Psalm 45 is a testimony to the interconnectedness of the King and Queen, the Queen in the Old Testament generally referring to that of the King’s mother. As Jesus exemplified the importance of the Servant King, His mother takes her seat on the throne by perfectly following his teachings.
It is so comforting that we can turn to Mary at any time, asking her to go to her Son for intercession. 1 Corinthians 15 then notes “For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life”.
Similarly, another title of Mary is the “New Eve”, reminding us that, it is through her actions in saying “Yes” to God that death is overcome. Mary’s life is a testament to giving her all to God, through never desiring anything of herself. Her steadfastness is awe-inspiring.
Finally, like so many moments in the Gospels, the scene of the visitation is such a powerful and yet humbling moment. Imagine these two women being so genuinely happy for each other, and for the world. They display the significance of putting others before themselves. Isn’t this what God has asked of us, to love and serve one another? In Mary’s Magnificat, she gives praise where it is due: God’s goodness is that He remembers the lowly. He loves us despite our weaknesses.
Let us strive today to always try to follow in Mary’s likeness, for no human has ever been so close to our Lord and Savior as our Blessed Mother.
Dr. Alexis Dallara-Marsh is a board-certified neurologist who practices in Bergen County, NJ. She is a wife to her best friend, Akeem, and a mother of two little ones on Earth and two others in heaven above.
Feature Image Credit: loren, https://www.cathopic.com/photo/3256-maria-reina-paz
St. Alipius: Saint of the Day for Sunday, August 15, 2021
Bishop and companion of St. Augustine. He was born in Tagaste, North Africa, and was raised as a friend of St. Augustine. He went to Rome to study law and became a magistrate there. When Augustine arrived in Rome, Alipius resigned his post and accompanied him to Milan. There he was baptized with Augustine in 387 or 394 by St. Ambrose. The two were ordained in Hippo, North Africa, and Alipius became the bishop of Tagaste, serving in that capacity for thirty years. Alipius’ name was placed in the …
Prayer to Our Lady, Assumed into Heaven: Prayer of the Day for Sunday, August 15, 2021
Immaculate Virgin, Mother of Jesus and our Mother, we believe in your triumphant assumption into heaven where the angels and saints acclaim you as Queen. We join them in praising you and bless the Lord who raised you above all creatures. With them we offer you our devotion and love.
We are confident that you watch over our daily efforts and needs, and we take comfort from the faith in the coming resurrection. We look to you, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. After this earthly life, show …
Misericordia
“For I will re-establish my covenant with you” (Ezekial 16:62).
God is so good! He is so righteous, so wondrous, so powerful, so awesome… and so merciful! The last month, as I have been digging deeper into what baptism in the Holy Spirit means, I have just been overcome and undone by God’s everlasting mercy.
Just yesterday, I was sharing with my mother that I went to Spanish Mass and encountered a word I had heard before but never known. Misericordia. The root of the Latin word is “misery” and “heart”. What a beautiful image of what mercy means, to share and have a heart for the misery of the world. Even now, I am crying at the weight of the word, the weight of God’s heart, crying over us again and again.
I once heard a conference speaker say, “It is not that we are worthy of His goodness, we could never be, but it is that He is so good, that He gifts it to us, asking only that we have a relationship with Him in return.” How true this is. We are never asked to strive for worthiness or perfection, because God knows that we are human. Instead, we are asked to strive for sharing mercy, sharing hope, sharing love, and sharing the Word of God, because God is love. We are called to be holy people made in the image and likeness of a merciful, beautiful God.
How do we do this? We show mercy, no matter what.
Jesus, we plead your precious blood,
poured out for our sins without demands.
We implore you to teach us your mercy each time we sit in Mass,
each time you give yourself so freely for our sins.
We ask for your example of unending love.
Teach us to love others without selfishness,
even when we may be wronged in ways so tiny, compared to your cross.
Teach us to come to you when we feel too weak to show mercy.
Remind us of your unending, undying love for us.
Amen.
Veronica Alvarado is a born and raised Texan currently living in Pennsylvania. Since graduating from Texas A&M University, Veronica has published various Catholic articles in bulletins, newspapers, e-newsletters, and blogs. She continued sharing her faith after graduation as a web content strategist and digital project manager. Today, she continues this mission in her current role as communications director and project manager for Pentecost Today USA, a Catholic Charismatic Renewal organization in Pittsburgh.
Feature Image Credit: Tim Mossholder, https://unsplash.com/photos/bo3SHP58C3g
St. Maximilian Kolbe: Saint of the Day for Saturday, August 14, 2021
St. Maximilian Kolbe was born as Raymund Kolbe on January 8, 1894, in the Kingdom of Poland, part of the Russian Empire. He was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar and a martyr in the German death Camp of Auschwitz during World War II.
St. Maximilian Kolbe was very active in promoting the Immaculate Virgin Mary and is known as the Apostle of Consecration to Mary. Much of his life was strongly influenced by a vision he had of the Virgin Mary when he was 12.
“That night I asked the Mother of …
Children’s Prayer for Parents: Prayer of the Day for Saturday, August 14, 2021
Dear Lord! Fill our parents with Thy choicest blessings;
enrich their souls with Thy holy grace;
grant that they may faithfully
and constantly guard that likeness to Thy union with Thy Church,
which Thou didst imprint upon them on their wedding day.
Fill them with Thy spirit of holy fear,
which is the beginning of wisdom;
inspire them to impart it to their children.
May they ever walk in the way of Thy commandments,
and may we their children be their joy on earth …
Mirroring the Trinity
There simply isn’t enough time to meditate on our Gospel today. Pope Saint John Paul II spent weeks meditating on it, as it was one of the critical inspirations for his Theology of the Body. He notices the gravity with which Jesus says “in the beginning it was not so,” and begins to wonder, “What is it about the beginning that makes it so significant?”.
His early reflections culminated in the realization of the “spousal meaning of the body.” This phrase, central to John Paul’s reflections, is hard to define succinctly, but we can get close. The body reveals the person. It is a window into the person, revealing his thoughts, feelings, personality, and ultimately his identity. In the beginning, that is, in Eden, this was transparent. The moment Adam saw Eve, it was clear that she was a person like him, and that she was extraordinarily beautiful. They were able to be naked without shame together, truly seeing the other as a gift.
This is the core of the spousal meaning of the body: having been created as a gift from God, we are meant to imitate His Trinitarian life of infinite love. Through our bodies, we reflect the Creator, and through our sexuality we reflect His boundless gift. In our relationships with others, in our bodily life, we are meant to express this total gift, ultimately through our sexuality. We ought to carry forth God’s love, and this comes prewritten in our bodies.
This provides the context for Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel. In the beginning, marriage was the flowering of this spousal meaning of the body, the ultimate expression of self-gift through sexuality, imaging God’s Trinitarian communion of love. This is still what marriage is. With God’s grace, marriage today lives up to this original state of unity and innocence.
Still, Jesus does not deny the disciples’ words when they point out that it is better not to marry. He points out that not all can accept this, but only those to whom it has been given. Saint Paul speaks similarly in 1 Corinthians 7:7, saying that “each has a particular gift from God.” Some are called to marriage, and some to continence for the kingdom.
We can see why this is. In marriage, spouses live out the spousal meaning of the body in a natural and direct way. Through the very sexuality which speaks of self-gift, they give themselves completely to another in a comprehensive (psychological and physical) union, becoming one flesh.
In the priesthood and consecrated virginity, men and women live out the spousal meaning of the body in a supernatural, indirect way. They express the same impulse toward self-gift, but give themselves entirely to their heavenly spouse. Both Christ here and Saint Paul in 1 Corinthians 7 call this the higher calling, since it mirrors life in heaven, when we will give ourselves entirely to be God and no longer be married.
As mentioned, each has his own gift from God. The superiority of continence for the kingdom is not meant to downplay the beauty of marriage, but it is something to give thanks for. God calls specific men and women to consecrated celibacy, and he gives the grace for them to reflect His Son’s life as a virgin dedicated to the kingdom. He also prepares specific men and women for holy marriage, giving the grace to maintain a one-flesh union that reflects the boundless love of the Trinity.
In both cases, we have reason to give thanks, reflecting the praise of God echoed in both our First Reading and Psalm. It all comes from the Lord, Who does the work and wins the fight for us. We need only to trust Him, cooperate, and be grateful.
David Dashiell is a freelance writer, editor, and proofreader based in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. His writing has been featured in Crisis Magazine and The Imaginative Conservative, and his editing is done for a variety of publishers, such as Sophia Institute and Scepter. He can be reached at ddashiellwork@gmail.com.
Feature Image Credit: Moises Becerra, https://www.cathopic.com/photo/10531-creacion-obra-capilla-sixtina
St. Hippolytus: Saint of the Day for Friday, August 13, 2021
Martyr of Rome, with Concordia and other companions, he is a controversial figure who censured Pope St. Callistus I. Hippolytus was slain in Sardinia where he had been exiled for being elected as an antipope, the first in the history of the Church. He was reconciled to the Church before his martyrdom. His writings were important, including A Refutation of All Heresies, Song of Songs, and The Apostolic Tradition.
Prayer for the Forgiveness of Sins: Prayer of the Day for Friday, August 13, 2021
O Lord, Jesus Christ,
Redeemer and Saviour,
forgive my sins,
just as You forgave Peter’s denial
and those who crucified You.
Count not my transgressions, but,
rather, my tears of repentance.
Remember not my iniquities, but,
more especially,
my sorrow for the offenses I have committed against You.
I long to be true to Your Word,
and pray that You will love me
and come to make Your dwelling place within me.
I promise to give You praise and glory in love
and in service …