A Catholic Monthly Magazine

Saturday 15 August

Vigil of the Assumption –
Evening Mass (S)

1 Chronicles 15:3-4, 15-16, 16:1-2; Psalm 132;
1 Corinthians 15:54-57; Luke 11:27-28

Awareness of blessings

The woman who blesses the mother of Jesus echoes Jacob’s blessing in Genesis. Jacob asks God to bless his children with the blessings of heaven and earth, and with the blessing of the breasts and the womb. Jesus is a blessed child of Earth and of his mother. He expands these blessings to include all his new family of disciples who, like Mary, respond to him. Pray to be aware of all the blessings that surround me.

Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin Mary (S)

Patronal Feast for Aotearoa New Zealand

Revelation 11:19, 12:1-6,10; Psalm 45; 1 Corinthians 15:20-26; Luke 1:39-56

Blessed are you

When she heard Mary’s greeting, the Spirit-filled Elizabeth offers the first of the many blessings in this gospel. She blesses Mary in her own person, then blesses the fruit of her womb. Both women recognise God in their bodiliness and the new life growing within them. They support each other. In their encounter is an example of the wisdom and care that older women can offer younger women. Pray to be “filled with the Holy Spirit” to bless all those I meet who carry Jesus within them. Whom do I need to bless? What would my blessing be like?

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