August 15, 2025 Luke 1: 39-56 Blessed is She Who Believed Much like human life, growing in Faith is equally Gift and Mystery; each, a long development across the years. A historical note in the margin of the Lectionary of today’s Feast of Mary’s Assumption caught my attention. The early 3rd and 4th century Christians told the story of Mary’s “being taken up” to God at the end of her life on earth. Celebrated as a Feast Day in the 5th century, it expanded with a vigil and an octave by the 9th. Only a thousand years later, in 1950, was the doctrine of Mary’s Assumption into Heaven dogmatically defined by Pope Pius XII. What struck me was the millions of our ancestors, who in each of their lifetimes, have continued to grow into this belief simply, open to the presence and action of God in all of life. As the oldest person of my four generational family, I watch with intrigue as our youngest uncovers each new capability, inconceivable before now, of her tiny, two-year old body and developing brain. Walking, then climbing; listening, mimicking, learning to speak; endlessly attempting more, all the while, growing more secure. How truly […]