Dear Friends,
This week we have the last of our Summer Feast Days on Thursday, August 15, when we keep the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. An old priest wisely told me that whatever we say about Mary, should say something about Jesus. The Feast of the Assumption is principally about the promise of Jesus that he has gone to prepare a place for us, and that where he is, we will follow (see John 14:1-6 and the exchange between Saint Thomas and Jesus). The collect from the Book of Common Prayer puts it succinctly:
O God, who hast taken to thyself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of thy incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of thine eternal kingdom; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
I love the Prayer to Our Lady of Fifth Avenue that Fr. John Andrew composed. The sentence construction looks complicated, but it states so clearly that Mary has been redeemed just like us, and that we are all part of the family of Jesus Christ – his body, the Church.
We come to you, Holy Mother,
to ask for your prayers.
You give us all encouragement to approach you
as your children whose brother,
your son Jesus Christ,
we claim as our blessed Savior and yours.
Help us now, we ask you,
with a prayer to him on our behalf and for his sake.
Amen.
Please do continue to send in your prayer requests; we pray them every day at 12pm. You can also order an eight-day candle on the website with the name of a loved one or an intention affixed to it.
See you all on Sunday!
Your Priest and Pastor,
Carl
