How wonderful that this Sunday we can talk and meditate on our Mother the ever-blessed Virgin Mary! With the exception of Jesus Christ, who is the Eternal Word, conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit, she is the greatest person to ever exist.  She is the greatest person to be conceived through a human mother and a human father. She is greater of any of the great people of history. She is the one who was conceived without sin. She gave her life so we can have a Savior. She is the greatest of us all. The greatest of us all is a woman. Mary brought a new dignity to every woman who has ever lived and who ever will live. Women bring life into the world and nurture this life.  Because Mary sacrificed herself for us, our women bring unique reflections of God into the world and nurture His Image with their bodies and with their lives. Women are life givers. Christian women give life to the Divine. Women are sources of love, carriers of love and nourishers of love. In these days when the most lucrative industry in the world is the pornography industry, where mainly young girls are exploited, Our Lady reminds us of the Dignity and Respect that are the natural rights of every female among us. We men are reminded that it is our obligation to care for and protect our women, be they little girls, teens, wives, singles, widows or the elderly. All men need to pray for those among us whose biblical origin was a gift from God to Adam. In these days of the glorification of the self, Our Lady reminds us of a person whose body and spirit were created for another.  She said “Yes” to the angel at the Annunciation and allowed God to radically change her life. She nurtured and cared for the child that others wanted dead.  She supported Jesus as a young man when some thought he was deranged. She stood with Him as He was tortured to death to complete the Father’s plan of redemption. She accepted John the apostle and us into her heart and became our mother. For all this and more than we could ever imagine, Mary was rewarded with her total union with God at the conclusion of her earthly life. She was assumed into heaven. Now closest to her Son, the judge of the Living and the Dead, within whisper length from his ear, she brings our prayers before Him.  We can be sure of this! She brings the prayers we offer when we honor her in the Rosary.  She brings the prayers we offer when we just call out, “Mother, help us!” so today we pray to her and we celebrate, with hearts full of joy, that she was taken to heaven where she lives forever • AE

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Fr. Agustin’s Schedule for the weekend of August 14-15, 2021,

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Saturday, August 14, 2021

4.00 p.m. Sacrament of Confession

5.00 p.m. Vigil Mass (English) @ St. Dominic Catholic Church

Sunday, August 15, 2021.

7.30 a.m. Mass (English) @ St. Dominic Catholic Church

10.00 a.m. Mass (English) @ St. Dominic Catholic Church

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Solemnidad de Asunción de la Santísima Virgen María (2021)

Hoy es fiesta grande para los creyentes. Una fiesta que no es sino el eco del anuncio pascual: Cristo ha resucitado y María es llevada en cuerpo y alma a los cielos. Aquella mujer que supo acoger como nadie la salvación que se le ofrecía en su propio Hijo, ha alcanzado ya la vida definitiva. La que supo sufrir junto a la cruz la injusticia y el dolor de perder a su Hijo, comparte hoy su vida gloriosa de resucitado y nos invita a caminar por la vida con alegre esperanza. La Asunción de la Virgen es una fiesta que confirma nuestra esperanza cristiana: hay salvación para el hombre. Hay una vida definitiva que se ha cumplido ya en Cristo y que se le ha regalado ya a María en plenitud. Hay resurrección. María es la Madre de nuestra esperanza. Ella es «la perfectamente redimida», como solía decir Rahner. En ella se ha realizado ya de manera eminente y plena lo que esperamos un día vivir también nosotros. Pero María es sobre todo Madre de esperanza para los pobres y los rechazados de este mundo. Si María es grande y bienaventurada para siempre es porque Dios es el Dios de los pobres. María se alegra de que Dios sea así. El Dios de los pobres y los humillados. El que ha sabido mirar la humillación y bajeza de su esclava. El que no se ha detenido ante Popea o Cleopatra, sino que ha fijo su mirada en una pobre muchacha sin brillo ni riquezas. Al cantar hoy el Magníficat podríamos recordar quién es el Dios que ha glorificado a María y en el que ella ha puesto todo su gozo y su esperanza. No es el Dios lejano e indiferente en el que a veces pensamos, sino el Dios de los sencillos, aquel que «derriba del trono a los poderosos y enaltece a los humildes; el que coIma de bienes a los hambrientos, y a los ricos despide con las manos vacías». Estas palabras no son palabras de ningún profeta agresivo ni de ningún guerrillero violento, sino que han brotado de la ternura, la limpieza y el gozo que caben en el corazón de María santísima; ese corazón que había guardado la memoria y el gozo de Jesús, quien bendecía al Padre porque ha ocultado su reino a los aristócratas de la tierra y lo ha revelado a aquellos que aparentemente no valen nada, pero valen todo • AE

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