This Wednesday, we ll mark the Feast of the Assumption of our Lady... some thoughts for your reflection:

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2 This Wednesday, we ll mark the Feast of the Assumption of our Lady... some thoughts for your reflection: The Assumption is the oldest feast day of Our Lady, but we don t know how it first came to be celebrated. Its origin is lost in those days when Jerusalem was restored as a sacred city, at the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine (c ). By then it had been a pagan city for two centuries, ever since Emperor Hadrian (76-138) had leveled it around the year 135 and rebuilt it as <Aelia Capitolina> in honor of Jupiter. For 200 years, every memory of Jesus was obliterated from the city, and the sites made holy by His life, death and Resurrection became pagan temples. After the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 336, the sacred sites began to be restored and memories of the life of Our Lord began to be celebrated by the people of Jerusalem. One of the memories about his mother centered around the Tomb of Mary, close to Mount Zion, where the early Christian community had lived. On the hill itself was the Place of Dormition, the spot of Mary s falling asleep, where she had died. The Tomb of Mary was where she was buried. At this time, the Memory of Mary was being celebrated. Later it was to become our feast of the Assumption. For a time, the Memory of Mary was marked only in Palestine, but then it was extended by the emperor to all the churches of the East. In the seventh century, it began to be celebrated in Rome under the title of the Falling Asleep ( Dormitio ) of the Mother of God. Soon the name was changed to the Assumption of Mary, since there was more to the feast than her dying. It also proclaimed that she had been taken up, body and soul, into heaven. That belief was ancient, dating back to the apostles themselves. What was clear from the beginning was that there were no relics of Mary to be venerated, and that an empty tomb stood on the edge of Jerusalem near the site of her death. That location also soon became a place of pilgrimage. (Today, the Benedictine Abbey of the Dormition of Mary stands on the spot.) At the Council of Chalcedon in 451, when bishops from throughout the Mediterranean world gathered in Constantinople, Emperor Marcian asked the Patriarch of Jerusalem to bring the relics of Mary to Constantinople to be enshrined in the capitol. The patriarch explained to the emperor that there were no relics of Mary in Jerusalem, that Mary had died in the presence of the apostles; but her tomb, when opened later... was found empty and so the apostles concluded that the body was taken up into heaven. In the eighth century, St. John Damascene was known for giving sermons at the holy places in Jerusalem. At the Tomb of Mary, he expressed the belief of the Church on the meaning of the feast: Although the body was duly buried, it did not remain in the state of death, neither was it dissolved by decay.... You were transferred to your heavenly home, O Lady, Queen and Mother of God in truth. The Assumption completes God's work in her since it was not fitting that the flesh that had given life to God himself should ever undergo corruption. The Assumption is God's crowning of His work as Mary ends her earthly life and enters eternity. The feast turns our eyes in that direction, where we will follow when our earthly life is over. The feast days of the Church are not just the commemoration of historical events; they do not look only to the past. They look to the present and to the future and give us an insight into our own relationship with God. The Assumption looks to eternity and gives us hope that we, too, will follow Our Lady when our life is ended. The prayer for the feast reads: All-powerful and ever-living God: You raised the sinless Virgin Mary, mother of your Son, body and soul, to the glory of heaven. May we see heaven as our final goal and come to share her glory. In 1950, in the Apostolic Constitution <Munificentissimus Deus>, Pope Pius XII proclaimed the Assumption of Mary a dogma of the Catholic Church in these words: The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heaven. Fr. Seán ~ With grateful acknowledgement to the EWTN Resource Library.

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4 50/50 RAFFLE TICKETS ~ $10 each or 3 for $25 GRAND PRIZE HALF the monies raised GRAND PRIZE Drawing will be held on Wednesday, September 5 th in the Parish Center after 8:45 AM Mass Tickets are available for purchase at the Parish Center. (Proceeds will go toward the Bell Tower Project)

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6 Please join us for a Guided Meditation to celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary The Guided Meditation will be led by our Summer Seminarian ~ Alexander Turpin When: Wednesday, August 15th ~ 9:30 AM Where: Our Parish Church (in the event of a funeral, we will use the Nazareth Chapel - in the Parish Center)

7 Musical Moments in Kings Park 2018

8 Focus on Religious Freedom From Catholics For Freedom of Religion Fifty years ago, on July 25, 1968, Pope Paul VI issued an Encyclical Letter entitled Humanae Vitae, On Human Life. On October 14, 2018, Pope Francis will canonize his predecessor as Pope Saint Paul VI. In this anniversary year, Bishop John O. Barres of the Diocese of Rockville Centre has issued a Pastoral Letter entitled The Supreme Gift: The Gift of Life, commemorating the encyclical of this soon-to-becanonized saint. This teaching of the late Holy Father is in many ways more important today than at any time before. In his letter, Bishop Barres wants to teach the people of the diocese the important truths of Humanae Vitae, because these truths very much need to be reexamined today in light of the problems we face in our time. Please take a copy of The Supreme Gift home, read it, and discuss it as married couples and as families. Bishop Barres says: Understanding the teaching of Humanae Vitae, believing it, and living it, is one of the first and most important answers to the crisis of our time. I truly believe that the future Pope Saint Paul VI wrote the letter more for our times than even for his own. Today, it can become the first step in repairing the injury between men and women, husbands and wives, parents and children, the family and society. At the Mass of Beatification of Pope Paul VI in 2014, Pope Francis said of his predecessor: When we look to this great Pope, this courageous Christian, this tireless apostle, we cannot but say in the sight of God a word as simple as it is heartfelt and important: thanks! Thank you, our dear and beloved Pope Paul VI! Thank you for your humble and prophetic witness of love for Christ and his Church! In [his] humility the grandeur of Blessed Paul VI shines forth: before the advent of a secularized and hostile society, he could hold fast, with farsightedness and wisdom and at times alone to the helm of the barque of Peter, while never losing his joy and his trust in the Lord. Visit drvc.org for an electronic copy in English and Spanish. Thank you. Good News for Health Professionals New Agency Protects Conscience & Religious Rights A new Conscience & Religion Freedom Division (OCR) in the Dept. of Health & Human Services (HHS) was established in January to restore and more vigorously and effectively enforce federal laws that protect the unalienable rights of conscience and religious freedom. America s doctors and nurses are dedicated to saving lives and should not be bullied out of the practice of medicine simply because they object to performing abortions against their conscience, said OCR Director Roger Severino. Laws protecting religious freedom and conscience rights are just empty words on paper if they aren t enforced. No one should be forced to choose between helping sick people and living by one's deepest moral or religious convictions. The new division will help guarantee that victims of unlawful discrimination will find justice. For too long, governments large and small have treated conscience claims with hostility instead of protection. But change is coming and it begins here and now. The Founding Fathers knew that a nation that respects conscience rights is more diverse and more free, said acting HHS Secretary Eric Hargan. (hhs.gov, 1/18/18; townhall.com, 1/18/18; washingtonpost.com, 1/18/18; firstliberty.org) Let us preserve freedom. Let us cherish freedom. Freedom of conscience, religious freedom, the freedom of each person Pope Francis

9 To strengthen him for the journey God provides Elijah with cake and water, which reminds him of his ancestors PASCH. Thus, he experiences the goodness of Our Lord Jesus, the bread of life, who strengthens us for our journey following His way of love. We know what Elijah is talking about when he says: Lord, I ve had enough. Broken and dispirited on his journey in the wilderness, he has reached the end of his tether. At his lowest ebb, an angel of God comes to his rescue and feeds him with miraculous food a hearth cake and a jug of water. His flagging hope is restored by this bread from heaven and he continues his journey to the holy mountain of Horeb, where he receives a new vision of God in the form of a gentle breeze. This gives him renewed courage and faith to march on and face the challenge of another day. Many a time in our bleak moments we feel like saying with Elijah, Lord, we ve had enough. Christian life is by no means plain sailing and we often find ourselves broken and crushed by circumstances that come our way. Left to our own resources we can find no light at the end of the tunnel. To keep going we need an assurance that we are not alone in our lives and that God is with us helping us to carry our crosses, rescuing us from every predicament that befalls us. The gospel points out that we have such a help in Jesus who is the Bread of Life. He brings each of us just what we need to sustain us on our pilgrim journey to God. Jesus is heavenly bread, medicine for the sick soul, nourishment for a wounded spirit, light and strength for a weary mind, the source of new and eternal life, whose presence and power strengthens us. He is the living Bread, which has come down from heaven, the unique source of life. We can look at our lives and ask ourselves are we hungering for Christ who is the Bread of life? Coming to Christ requires far more than a weekly walk up to the altar to receive Holy Communion. If Jesus makes himself available to us then we have to make ourselves present to him. To approach the altar complaining, or with a heart full of bitterness because of hurts inflicted on us, is not a true sharing in the Eucharist. There is no way we can offer ourselves to God and not try and love our neighbor who has let us down in some way during the week. In our daily round we are asked to be forgiving, to overcome faults, to understand the failure of friends, and not to close our hearts when we are offended. In the Eucharist we meet the bigness of God who has forgiven us and who asks us in our own turn to give as freely as we have received. The Eucharist is an opportunity for reconciliation, for wounds and old sores to be bound up and forgiveness to be shown. For God to love us we must try and be loving also.

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13 GOLDEN ROSE QUEEN OF IRELAND LADY OF KNOCK OUR QUEEN OF PEACE The Parish of St. Joseph ~ Kings Park In collaboration with The Ancient Order of Hibernians ~ Men and Ladies ~ Kevin Barry ~ Division 3 - Smithtown Invite you to join us as we celebrate The 139 th Anniversary of the Apparition of Our Lady Of Knock ~ Queen of Ireland Friday, August 17, 2018 Holy Mass ~ Church of St. Joseph ~ 7:30 P.M. Hospitality to follow in Travis Hall. The History of Our Lady of Knock On a wet Thursday evening of the 21st August, 1879, at about 8 o clock, Our Lady, St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist appeared in a blaze of Heavenly light at the south gable of Knock Parish Church ~ Co. Mayo, Ireland. Behind them and a little to the left of St. John was a plain altar. On the altar was a cross and a lamb with adoring angels. The Apparition was seen by fifteen people whose ages ranged from six years to seventy-five and included men, women and children. The witnesses described the Blessed Virgin Mary as being clothed in white robes with a brilliant crown on her head. Over the forehead where the crown fitted the brow, she wore a beautiful full-bloom golden rose. She was in an attitude of prayer with her eyes and hands raised towards Heaven. St. Joseph was on her right and turned toward her in an attitude of respect. St. John was on Our Lady s left, dressed in white vestments and resembled a bishop, with a small mitre. He appeared to be preaching and held an open book in his hands. The witnesses watched the Apparition in pouring rain for two hours, reciting the Rosary. Although they themselves were soaking wet from the rain, not a single drop fell on the church gable or the vision. Our Lady spoke no word to those gathered ~ she didn t need to ~ they were listening with their hearts. Please join us as we honor Our Lady of Knock and pray that we also will listen with awe and wonder and respond in faith.

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17 Our Lady of Knock Mass 7:30 PM CH Hospitality following in TH Young People s Summer Camp 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM School Building CYO ~ Ball Fields 1, 2 and 4 8:00 AM 8:30 PM Young People s Summer Camp 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM School Building CYO ~ Ball Fields 1, 2 and 4 8:00 AM 8:30 PM

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