The Assumption of the Virgin Mary

Personal Note:

After the attendees received the Eucharist (under the two forms together) at the Mass, my oxygen tank became empty which alarmed my daughter and myself as well as a number of friends around us. Thank God, my wife came to the rescue on time while the closing blessing was being given! Thanks also to the priests who came to see us and offer their help after the Mass...

Last night, August 15, 2018 I attended the magnificent Mass of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother of God at Jesus the King Greek Melkite Catholic parish in the Cathedral of the Transfiguration north of Toronto which was consecrated by Pope Saint John Paul II in his 1984 first visit to Toronto. The Mass was celebrated by the pastor and his two assistant pastors, and served by the renowned Homsy choir. In his homily, the pastor Fr. Ibrahim El-Haddad spoke about the reason that the Blessed Virgin Mary was assumed to heaven body and soul. Her utter humility expressed in her own response to the Archangel Gabriel "Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38). The "Dormition of the Theotokos" refers to the same celebration in the Eastern Churches. Dormition refers to the death of Mary which she underwent as her Son did. However, her purity and immaculate life seen by God could not be left in the tomb. As the risen Christ ascended to heaven, he also took up his mother to heaven in both body and soul. This  is an old tradition in both East and West. In response to questions by separated Christian brothers, an  extensive consultations with the Bishops, was followed by a  dogmatic definition, infallibly pronounced by Pope Pius XII on the occasion of the Marian Year in 1950 (see Munificentissmus Deus by Pope Pius XII here).
Since the Mother of Jesus was given to John the Apostle by Christ on the cross, she lived with John. Both Ephesus, where St. John the Apostle preached, and Jerusalem where the Apostles first preached, claimed the honor of  having the Mother of Christ before her dormition and assumption. In the 3rd century, St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, wrote that Mary is the new Eve whose obedience cancelled Eve's disobedience (see St. Irenaeus' Against Heresies Book V Chapter 19 in The Catholic Encyclopedia here). In the 4th and 5th centuries, the Alexandrian Bishops played a significant role in defending the Virgin Mary's role in Christ's incarnation and redemptive act. This is evident in St. Athanasius "De Incarnatione Verbi Dei" and St. Cyril of Alexandria momentous leadership at the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD in which he vigorously defended the title given to the Virgin Mary being "Mother of God" because she is the mother of the "Word of God" (John 1, 1) who in her womb he became Man. In the same period, Churches in Antioch expressed veneration of Christ's mother. St. Ephraim the Syriac and St. Romanos the Melodist composed hymns of praise to the Virgin Mary as the one chosen by God for the Son's incarnation and redemptive acts. In the 8th century, St. John of Damascus actively fought by his pen the Iconoclastic heresy enforced by the Byzantine Emperor Leo the Isorian. He was helped by the fact that he resided in Islamic territory. The most important icon defended is that of the Virgin Mary carrying Jesus. It can be seen in Eastern Churches today. Another popular, but rare, icon is that of the "Dormition of the Virgin Mary" in which Mary in her coffin is carried by Jesus. It shows the early devotion in the Eastern Churches accorded to the Virgin Mary in her death and assumption where her risen son carries her. In Coptic art, the face of Jesus is disproportionately larger than his body. Although Mary is at his side in the icon, the theological meaning is based on the description of heaven. In heaven, the King Jesus Christ sits on the throne, while his mother, the most pure among creation, stands on his right side. In his 13th century Summa Theologiae, St. Thomas Aquinas distinguished the veneration given to the Virgin Mary as the holiest of creatures by calling it "hyperdulia" as opposed to "Latria" owed only in worship to the Triune God.  In the Mass or Divine Liturgy, there is a definitive moment in which Mary is pre-eminently proclaimed above all angels and saints. It is evident then that veneration of the Virgin Mary as the holiest of all creation is as old as the beginning of Christian Era. Her participation in the redemptive act of Christ under his cross and her sorrowful tears carrying the dead body of Jesus after the crucifixion have been the subject of artful works such as LaPieta by Michael Angelo and repeated calls to proclaim her "Mediatrix of Graces". In the 16th century, Pope Saint Pius V established the Holy Rosary prayer, based on a long custom. The prayer consists of 3 groups meditating on the redemptive love of Christ from the Annunciation to the Ascension and beyond known as the "Joyful Mysteries"; the "Sorrowful Mysteries"; and the "Glorious Mysteries." Pope Saint John Paul II added "The Luminous Mysteries." Each group starts with The Lord's Prayer ("Our Father") and 10 Hail Marys and followed by "Glory be...". For further information the reader may wish to read this site...
In our time, Venerable Fulton Sheen observed that Muslims too consider the Virgin Mary "the purest of all women". He thought that this time belongs to the Virgin Mary whom with her intercession the Lord may, in his love, bring them to the fold of the Church...

God's Love Is Stronger Than Hell

On Sunday August 5, 2018, commenting on the Scripture readings of the Mass, the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad said a homily in which he showed the psychological needs of humans from birth till adulthood. The little baby that comes out of the womb of his mother cries for the comfort that he left when he was being nourished inside to the discomfort of having to find the nourishment gradually withdrawn as he stops sucking the milk from his mother's breast. In a similar fashion the Israelites complained to Moses that in order to follow him into the desert, they had to leave the comfort of their homes in Egypt where they ate and now are hardly able survive. The Passover is a reminder that Christ will also use to describe how his body and blood will be given up in order to save us and to lead humanity into the joy of heaven. This is the body that is consumed by the faithful in the Eucharist on Sunday - the "Real Presence of Christ" among us.  At Holy Rosary parish in Toronto, the faithful are able to contemplate the Blessed Sacrament on their knees.
But this raises the question of doubts about God that many in our materialistic world, particularly the younger generations educated in only the physical sciences, have come to experience. Every metaphysical question is being examined today as if the world has not gone through thousands of years of worship.
I recall that in August last year, I asked the two Jesuit scholars that I know, Fr. Henri Boulad and Fr. Samir Khalil Samir about my own fear that because of my sins, God may send me to hell.  Fr. Boulad replied "Trust in God. Do not think of hell". Fr. Samir replied that Pope Saint John Paul II declared "Damnation" in hell should not be attributed to God's initiative since in his merciful love, God does not desire other than the salvation of his created beings. Bishop Robert Barron (who published the massively popular "Catholicism" series) commented here on the possibility of damnation in hell but wisely observed that while the Church declared many souls in heaven, she has never made a declaration of any human in hell. Furthermore, the greatest Catholic theologian in the 20th century, Hans Urs von Balthasar wrote his book "Dare We Hope That All Men Be Saved?" In his book, von Balthasar prays that God in his utter merciful love may save all. In his book "Introduction to Christianity" Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) shows that God's love in Christ's Resurrection is stronger than death. His magnificent chapter may be read here.

Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta on Suffering

In an interview on Irish TV in 1974, St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta revealed her suffering because of the apparent absence of God as she constantly prayed and received holy Communion for so many years. Her mission to love and save the abandoned and dying in the streets of Calcutta had already been approved by the Holy See since 1950. Her Congregation of the "Missionaries of Charity" counted thousands of young sisters and other co-workers as well as many sponsors who adopted unwanted children instead of aborting them or wasting them as in the West. Yet, at the time of the interview, she had already experienced the "Darkness of the Night" and doubts that were experienced by great saints such as St.Teresa of Avila. Her response was to cling to Jesus the Saviour and love Him; for in her opinion suffering was the way in which souls are purified by God - If sufferings are accepted and existential doubts are brought to the light of Christ, the rest of temptations can be treated...The reader may wish to listen to this contemplative nun who dared to act in the world and "make the ocean one drop less" every time she went about helping the human person:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th2QzJwy8tI
She said she was an instrument in God's hands which reminds us by the hymn of St. Francis of Assisi "Make me a channel of your peace": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI1Gst7pEqc
During the 1975-1976 civil war in Lebanon, Mother Teresa wanted to cross from one side to the other in Beirut in order to care for the injured. As she prayed, the response of heaven was immediate and she could cross...In 1979, I was attending her talk and was seated near her in the first row at the Jesuit hall in Cairo. As she finished her talk, I had the privilege of a handshake by Mother Teresa!
A great saint whose missionaries are active in most countries, one of my cousins is a sister in her Missionary of Charity congregation in Congo...

The Lord disciplines the one He loves

Last Sunday July 8, 2018 my wife and I attended the 10 a.m. Mass at Holy Rosary parish in Toronto. The celebrant was Fr. Daniel Callam, CSB who heard my confession after the Mass. Fr. Callam is a graduate of the University of Toronto. He earned a Master's degree in Mathematics. However he achieved much learning in pursuing his academic and pastoral work. With a doctorate in theology from Oxford University he is currently a Professor of Theology who teaches regularly at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas in the United States.
I had developed a great relationship with Fr. Callam since he was Pastor at Holy Rosary in 2009 and 2010. His open mind, and highly-developed sense of Catholic Tradition position him as a Thomist philosopher who is able to distinguish and critique today's age of post-modernism. His book "A Catholic Goes to the Movies" was published last year. I recall my conversation with Fr. Callam about the Christian philosopher René Girard and correspondence with him of what I believe was a "Development in the Doctrine of Salvation" that I found in an article by the late Jesuit Cardinal Avery Dulles in First Things here.
When I asked Fr. Callam to hear my confession, he listened patiently. He did not rush to give me absolution but became more interested as it turned to a dialogue on my life since I was conceived in my mother's womb. I told him how from an early age I like to imitate the priest and how I got more involved in youth and Church matters as the late saintly Bishop Paul Antaki invited me to meetings and conferences...As I mentioned my sins, he listened more. However, as I mentioned my suffering since 1986, he told me about suffering of others. I know many old persons who are suffering in silence. I believe this is why sick people and old ones who look for God get closer to Church and attempt to be in communion with the Savior. The Lord disciplines the ones whom He loves as a father the son in whom he delights...

“My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord"