Assumption celebrates the ‘exception to the rule,’ Bishop says at feast day Mass
August 15, 2024 at 4:15 p.m.
On the day the Universal Church celebrated the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., paid tribute to the one perfect human being who ever lived – the Blessed Virgin Mary.
During an August 15 Mass he celebrated in the Diocese’s Mother Church, St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, Bishop O’Connell focused his homily on how Mary “was fully, completely and perfectly human.
PHOTO GALLERY: Mass for the Feast of the Assumption in Cathedral
“We gather today to celebrate the exception to the rule, the only human being who comes as close as any human being to the image of God in which she was created and made – Mary, the Mother of God, the Mother of Jesus Christ, the Mother of the Church, our Mother,” said Bishop O’Connell, who was joined at the altar by priests serving at the Cathedral including Msgr. Joseph Roldan, rector.
“In fact, she was so perfect in her humanity, that when her life on earth was finished, God, her creator – our creator, took her body and soul completely back to himself from this world, leaving behind only her memory; her example; her virtue, the grace of her existence,” he said. “We call this action of God toward the Blessed Mother, the Assumption of Mary into heaven.”
The Bishop noted that after the Birth, Life, Death, Resurrection, Ascension and Pentecost of her son, the Lord Jesus, who alone is fully human and fully divine, the Assumption of Mary stands as the “greatest event of human history and the greatest expression of our faith in human possibility.” He also spoke of how Mary’s Assumption into heaven is one of only two infallible truths proclaimed by the Church, with the other being her Immaculate Conception, that Mary was conceived without sin.
“And so, the Church celebrates her with the highest honor: her conception, her life, her maternity and her physical return to God at the Assumption,” the Bishop said.
Bishop O’Connell acknowledged that it is hard for the human mind to conceive or imagine a perfect human being, a person without flaws or defects, a person who has no faults or imperfections. And, while Mary’s perfection is hard to comprehend, her perfection is something for which all humans must strive.
“Mary is our incentive, our motivation to turn our humanness into all that God intended it to be, created it to be,” the Bishop said. “Her goodness and perfection are not only qualities for our memory, our admiration and inspiration but also for our imitation as much as humanly possible.
“Mary, at her Assumption, like her son, the Lord Jesus at his Ascension, left the limits of our physical world behind, but did not leave us,” Bishop O’Connell said. “She remains in our hearts, along with the son she bore, as our mother, loving us, mindful of us, encouraging us, praying for us to follow her, now and at the hour of our death.”
The congregation joins in prayer during the Mass Bishop O'Connell celebrated for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton. Hal Brown photo
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On the day the Universal Church celebrated the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., paid tribute to the one perfect human being who ever lived – the Blessed Virgin Mary.
During an August 15 Mass he celebrated in the Diocese’s Mother Church, St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, Bishop O’Connell focused his homily on how Mary “was fully, completely and perfectly human.
PHOTO GALLERY: Mass for the Feast of the Assumption in Cathedral
“We gather today to celebrate the exception to the rule, the only human being who comes as close as any human being to the image of God in which she was created and made – Mary, the Mother of God, the Mother of Jesus Christ, the Mother of the Church, our Mother,” said Bishop O’Connell, who was joined at the altar by priests serving at the Cathedral including Msgr. Joseph Roldan, rector.
“In fact, she was so perfect in her humanity, that when her life on earth was finished, God, her creator – our creator, took her body and soul completely back to himself from this world, leaving behind only her memory; her example; her virtue, the grace of her existence,” he said. “We call this action of God toward the Blessed Mother, the Assumption of Mary into heaven.”
The Bishop noted that after the Birth, Life, Death, Resurrection, Ascension and Pentecost of her son, the Lord Jesus, who alone is fully human and fully divine, the Assumption of Mary stands as the “greatest event of human history and the greatest expression of our faith in human possibility.” He also spoke of how Mary’s Assumption into heaven is one of only two infallible truths proclaimed by the Church, with the other being her Immaculate Conception, that Mary was conceived without sin.
“And so, the Church celebrates her with the highest honor: her conception, her life, her maternity and her physical return to God at the Assumption,” the Bishop said.
Bishop O’Connell acknowledged that it is hard for the human mind to conceive or imagine a perfect human being, a person without flaws or defects, a person who has no faults or imperfections. And, while Mary’s perfection is hard to comprehend, her perfection is something for which all humans must strive.
“Mary is our incentive, our motivation to turn our humanness into all that God intended it to be, created it to be,” the Bishop said. “Her goodness and perfection are not only qualities for our memory, our admiration and inspiration but also for our imitation as much as humanly possible.
“Mary, at her Assumption, like her son, the Lord Jesus at his Ascension, left the limits of our physical world behind, but did not leave us,” Bishop O’Connell said. “She remains in our hearts, along with the son she bore, as our mother, loving us, mindful of us, encouraging us, praying for us to follow her, now and at the hour of our death.”
The congregation joins in prayer during the Mass Bishop O'Connell celebrated for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton. Hal Brown photo