Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

For Catholics, the feast of the Assumption of Mary reflects the belief that Mary was taken up body and soul into heaven.
However, you would be disappointed if you were looking for a text in the Bible about how and where Mary died. The last we hear of her is when she is praying with the Apostles at Pentecost (Acts 1:14). Indeed, St Paul refers to Mary only once in all his many letters and even there she is not named. In his letter to the Galatians, he says ‘When the appointed time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman to redeem the subjects of the law.’ (Gal 4:4). Rather today’s feast represents what the church has concluded was the fitting end to Mary’s life.
It was as early as 431 at the Council of Ephesus that Mary was declared Mother of God. However, even though Catholics had believed in the doctrine since earliest times, it was only in November 1950 that Pius XII solemnly defined the teaching that Mary was assumed into heaven.
Father Alex