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And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed” – Luke 1:46-48

Catholics share in the belief that on 15 August almost 2,000 years ago, Jesus’ mother, The Blessed Mary, Mother of God, ended her earthly life and was ‘assumed’, body and soul into heaven by God. This belief or Dogma was first shared by St Juvenal, who was Bishop of Jerusalem in 451CE. The Roman emperor of the time; Emperor Marcian, requested the body of Mary be brought to him during the Council of Chalcedon. St Juvenal informed the Emperor that while Mary had died in the presence of all the Apostles, her body was not in a tomb as Mary had been taken up to heaven.

In 1950 Pope Pius XII defined the dogma of the Assumption:

“By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”

From this day forward, 15 August was officially made a Holy Day of Obligation.

Reflecting on the life of Mary, we see that she was the first disciple of Jesus and a model for all disciples. The Blessed Mary is the patron Saint of Australia and to honour her Feast Day, Thomas Carr College have named Term Three, The Assumption Term.

At the Feast of the Assumption Mass, held on her Feast Day, we had the honour of sharing this celebration with the Grade 3, 4, 5 and 6 students and staff of St Francis of Assisi Primary School. Students from the College and St Francis were either readers, bearers or altar servers, and the choir sang with great joy as Father Jude, our Celebrant shared the Word and Eucharist with us. The students and staff reflected on Father Jude’s homily, whilst also acknowledging staff who had recently completed training to be Extraordinary Ministers and sharing a special blessing for those heading off on the MACS Pilgrimage.

As this term draws to a close, we remind ourselves of the importance of gathering as a community and celebrating how, inspired by Mary’s love of God, we too are called to ‘through love, serve one another.’

Alexandra Higham
Director of Faith and Mission