Yesterday Catholics everywhere celebrated yet another holy day on the liturgical calendar, the Feast of the Ascension. After suffering death on the cross and rising again on the third day Christ returned to His disciples for a time and continued His teaching. Yesterday marked the end of that teaching when he ascended into heaven.
Nearly everyone knows about All Hallows’ Eve. Every child in America looks forward to Halloween, the last day in October when they get to bundle up under costumes of their favorite characters and flit all over town in search of tasty treats to eat. However, far fewer people are familiar with the Catholic feast which always comes the day after Halloween. All Saints’ Day is a Catholic holy day of obligation meaning that attendance at church is required.
Catholics flock to church on this particular solemnity to celebrate all the saints, both known and unknown. Even non-believers are familiar with some of the greats; Saint Peter, Saint Paul, Saint Joseph to name a few. These are big ‘S’ Saints. Their sainthood has been formally declared by the Holy Father, the Pope, after careful examination of a series of miracles attributed to each of these people. However, one hardly has to be famous in order to become a saint in the eyes of God. There are hundreds of Saints officially acknowledged and celebrated by the Catholic Church and there are countless more that remain unknown but by those who knew them in life. All those who reside with God in heaven have achieved sainthood through virtuous lives or purification of purgatory, regardless of their renown here on earth.
We tend to confuse our terminology by saying we pray to Saint Anthony for our lost keys or to Saint Mary Magdalene for continued conversion. In truth, we Catholics only ever pray to God as we worship the one true God, fully present in the holy trinity. No saint, famous or otherwise, can answer our prayers. We believe that all of these holy people are now in heaven and therefore closest to God. By this proximity, they have God’s ear in a sense and are capable of interceding for us. When we invoke specific saints in our lives we ask for their intercessions only, that they might implore God to help us in our need. Today, we honor all of them for this assistance.
Amid all the hustle and bustle of life there are a few days throughout the year during which attendance is required at Catholic mass in addition to our regular Sunday worship. These holy days of obligation are days of rest, reflection and renewed devotion to our Lord and today is one such day. Today we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary the most holy mother of God is also named the new Eve in the Catholic Church. Just as our fall was brought forth in the Garden of Eden by a woman, so also was our salvation born from a woman’s womb. In this way men and women were both redeemed.
Mary is also considered the mother of the Church. Christ confirmed this in His last words to Mary and John while on the cross. Like Christ, Mary was free from original sin and unfailing in her devotion to God. For all of these reasons, Mary’s body was not subjected to an earthly death but was assumed into Heaven, body and soul. She is now everyone’s mother and protector as Queen of the Universe.
Blessed in the Midwest 