Catholic Commission for Social Justice
Gospel Lk 2:16-21
The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.
Today we celebrate the Assumption of Mary. As Catholics we believe that Mary was assumed into heaven – body and soul. On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII declared the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of our faith. He stated in his Apostolic Constitution: Munificentissimus Deus (The Most Bountiful God): “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.”