Thank you to those who have given so generously in support of last week’s Mission Appeal to support the Foundation for Children in Need in rural India.  It is not too late to offer a gift in support of the fine and important work they are doing. 

You may use the online link through our website (scroll down for ‘mission appeal’).  I provided the link in my weekly email also.  Or, you may bring your own mission gift to mass this weekend or next.  Checks should be made payable to Queens with ‘Mission Appeal’ written on the memo line of the check or the front of the envelope. These can be placed in the collection at Mass or dropped off at the parish office over the next few weeks. 

When we support the foreign missions, we recognize the human dignity of people we’ve never met and finance the spread of Gospel charity in places we may never visit.  We do so because the Bible tells us to feed the poor and welcome the stranger.   

Friday August the 15^th is a Holy Day of Obligation, the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, the 4^th Glorious Mystery of the rosary.  As Roman Catholics of the Latin Rite, it is our Sacred Doctrine and we do believe and profess that Mary was conceived without sin, remained ever Virgin and did not suffer the decay that comes with death.  She went to sleep on earth and woke up in Heaven.  Mary’s example teaches us to trust completely in the Will of God and to grow in holiness by means of fidelity and humility.

This is the Holy Day schedule for Queens:

Thursday August 14^th:  5:30pm Vigil Mass

Friday August 15^th:  6:45am, 9am and 5:30pm

“On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are obliged to participate in the Mass” (Code of Canon Law, par. 1247). 

MORE ON THE ASSUMPTION FROM WWW.VATICAN.VA:  The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was already being celebrated on 15 August in the 5th century. It bore the sense of Our Lady’s “Birth into heaven”, or in the Byzantine tradition, her “Dormition”. The feast began to celebrated in Rome in the middle of the 7th century. It was not until 1 November 1950, that Pope Pius XII proclaimed the Dogma of Mary’s assumption body and soul into heaven. In the Apostles’ Creed, we profess our faith in the “Resurrection of the body” and in “life everlasting”. This is the ultimate goal and meaning of our life’s journey.

This promise of faith is already accomplished in Mary, who is the “sign of sure hope and comfort.” It is a privilege granted to Mary, and closely connected to her being the Mother of Jesus. Since death and the corruption of the human body are consequences of sin, it was not right that the Virgin Mary – who is free from sin – should be affected by this natural law. Hence the mystery of her “Dormition” or “Assumption into heaven”. The fact that Mary has already been assumed into heaven is a reason to celebrate, to rejoice, to hope in the “already and the not yet”.

One of God’s creatures – Mary – is already in heaven. With her, and like her, we too, who are God’s creatures, will one day be there too. Mary’s destiny, united to the transfigured and glorious body of Jesus, is, therefore, the destiny of all those who are united to the Lord Jesus in faith and love. It is interesting to note that the liturgy – through the biblical texts taken from the Book of Revelation and the Gospel according to Luke (the Canticle of the Magnificat) – helps us, not so much to reflect, as to pray. In fact, the Gospel suggests that Mary’s mystery be read in the light of her prayer, the Magnificat, that is, through the lens of gratuitous love that extends from generation to generation, and the predilection of the least and the poor.

Its choicest fruit, you could say its masterpiece, is Mary, a mirror in which the entire people of God can see its own features reflected. The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, body and soul, is an eloquent sign of how not only the “soul” but also the “body” is included in the biblical observation that “God found it very good” (Gen 1:31), so much so that in the Virgin Mary, “our flesh” would be assumed into heaven. This does not exempt us from committing ourselves to life here on earth, but rather that with our gaze fixed on the goal, on Heaven, our Homeland, we are driven to commit ourselves during our present life to reflect the Magnificat: to rejoice in God’s mercy, to be attentive to all our brothers and sisters we meet along the way, beginning with the weakest and most vulnerable.

THE INFALLIBLE PROCLAMATION OF THE DOGMA OF THE ASSUMPTION:  “For which reason, after we have poured forth prayers of supplication again and again to God, and have invoked the light of the Spirit of Truth, for the glory of Almighty God who has lavished his special affection upon the Virgin Mary, for the honor of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages and the Victor over sin and death, for the increase of the glory of that same august Mother, and for the joy and exultation of the entire Church; 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” (Pius XII; Munificentissimus Deus, 1 November 1950).

As the days get shorter and the end of summer draws ever nearer, our fall programs and ramping up and that includes Sunday Faith Formation for public school students (and home school) in Pre-K thru 12th grade.  These classes are required to receive 1st Communion in 2nd grade or to be Confirmed at the start of freshman year.  For everyone else not enrolled in parochial school, Faith Formation should NOT be looked upon as optional. 

At Baptism, parents and godparents make a solemn promise to raise the child in the faith.  This should include Mass as a family every Sunday and holy day, prayers before meal and bedtime, AND a program of religious instruction either in Catholic school or Faith Formation.

Each year we reach out to every family in the parish that is not attending Catholic school, and each year, hundreds of children in the parish are not being enrolled in either program.  We can’t expect children to stay in the faith as adults if they have not been trained to practice it as children.

Classes begin September 7th.  Contact Betsy Koval at bkoval@queenschurch.com for more information or to volunteer.  There is a modest cost and financial aid is available.

Visit the link below to sign up for Sunday Faith Formation or scan the QR code:

The Order of Christian Initiation of Adults or OCIA is a process, not a class.  It is the means by which non-baptized adults become Catholic, along with Christians coming home to the Catholic Church from other denominations, and for those who were baptized Catholic but never completed the other sacraments of initiation to get caught up. 

The OCIA meets in Seton Hall in the lower level of the Queens Parish Office on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 starting August 27th.  It is free and open to the public, no strings attached.

All of us know someone who is not Catholic but open to the possibility of converting to the faith.  It could be a spouse, relative, coworker, golf buddy or neighbor.  Have you ever broached this topic with them?  One thing Catholics don’t excel at is the willingness to share our faith story and accompany someone else on their faith journey, perhaps leading them to the sacramental life of the church.  Maybe this is you.  Maybe this is the year where you can dare to step out in faith and talk to someone about it.  We won’t know if we don’t try.  

If you know someone who may be interested in OCIA, talk to them about it or let us know and we will be happy to.  Betsy Koval directs the program and she does a fine job year after year introducing newcomers to the doctrine, history, mysteries and morality contained in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.  

OCIA inquiries:  bkoval@queenschurch.com

Make your portrait appointment now for the new Queens Parish Directory.  353 persons or families have already signed up. New dates for August and September are now available! 

Whether you plan on buying a photo or not, please come and sit for a portrait so you will be included in the directory.  

To make your portrait appointment, visit: 

www.ucdir.com. 

Enter the church code mi1901

password:  photos 

Volunteers will be present at Church after the Masses this weekend to get you signed up.  

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teaching” (Heb 13:8-9).

Fr. Tim MacDonald

Pastor