EVERY YEAR, WE CELEBRATE MOTHER’S DAY ON THE FIRST SUNDAY OF MAY. And whether our moms are living or deceased, we remember them in special ways. One day a year, however, is not enough time to consider all that our mothers have done for us. I think it is fairly safe to say that most of us think of our moms much more than on just a single day.
The same is true for us in the Catholic Church. We have many celebrations of Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother, but two of them are so special, so important, so solemn that they are identified as Holy Days of Obligation: one, on December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, and the other on August 15, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother into Heaven.
One of the most important things any mother does for her children is to teach them about life and to teach them what it means to love. So it is with Mary, the Mother of Jesus.
St. Luke’s Gospel tells the story of the Holy Family’s visit to Jerusalem and how Jesus wandered away from Mary and Joseph and became lost in the temple. For most children --- and parents --- this would be a terrifying experience. Not for Jesus. When Mary and Joseph found Jesus, he was sitting with the religious leaders and teachers, engaged in conversation and questions. After a gentle “scolding” by his mother --- a teachable moment --- St. Luke observes that Jesus went back home with Mary and Joseph and “grew in wisdom, stature and grace.”
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BISHOP DAVID M. O’CONNELL, C.M., WILL SERVE AS PRINCIPAL CELEBRANT AND HOMILIST AUGUST 15 in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, for the 12:10 p.m. Mass commemorating the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven is August 15.
The Solemnity of the Assumption, which is the patronal feast of the Diocese of Trenton and the namesake of the diocesan see, is a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics, which means that Catholics are obliged to attend Mass either on the vigil (the evening before) or on the day itself.