The Knights of Columbus in Loudoun County are trying to ease the burden on these families by sponsoring a Cereal for Summer Drive. They will be collecting cereal, cereal bars, granola bars, pudding paks, other non-perishable snacks, and juice boxes at churches throughout Loudoun County. Why cereal? It is easy to prepare, and can be done by children, it is nutritious, and can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

The Knights will then transport the donations to Catholic Charities for distribution. Catholic Charities will also supply milk for these families in need.

Please help Our Lady of Hope Council to its goal of 1,000 items donated!!!!

All items may be dropped off starting May 26, 2012 thru June 24, 2012 at:

Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church
46639 Algonkian Parkway
Potomac Falls, Virginia

“Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry… And he will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’”

Matthew 25

Here are some quick facts on the Ascension from EWTN:

Questions About the Ascension

101. When did Christ ascend into heaven?

Christ ascended, body and soul, into heaven on Ascension Day, forty days after His Resurrection.

102. Why did Christ remain on earth forty days after His Resurrection?

Christ remained on earth forty days after His Resurrection to prove that He had truly risen from the dead and to complete the instruction of the apostles.

(a) Saint Paul tells us that Christ, after His Resurrection, appeared frequently to the apostles and to many others.

(b) Christ ascended into heaven from Mount Olivet, a hill outside Jerusalem.

103. What do we mean when we say that Christ sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty?

When we say that Christ sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, we mean that Our Lord as God is equal to the Father, and that as man He shares above all the saints in the glory of His Father and exercises for all eternity the supreme authority of a king over all creatures.

(a) Even as man, Christ of Himself has dominion over all creation. His Kingship rests on the fact that His human nature is immediately united to the divine Person of the Son of God, and on the fact that He redeemed all men with His precious blood.

(b) On earth Christ exercises His kingly authority in spiritual matters through His Church. His Kingship extends also over temporal and civil matters.

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The Baltimore Catechism, no. 3, Lesson 8.
Electronic text (c) Copyright 1996 EWTN. All rights reserved.

How did the Apostles know that our Lady did not die and was assumed into Heaven?

Unfortunately, we do not have an abundance of evidence. St. John Damascene (d. 749) recorded an interesting story concerning the Assumption: “St. Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, at the Council of Chalcedon (451), made known to the Emperor Marcian and Pulcheria, who wished to possess the body of the Mother of God, that Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles, but that her tomb, when opened, upon the request of St. Thomas, was found empty; wherefrom the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to heaven.”

What is most important is that since the earliest days, the Church has defended the Assumption on two counts: Since Mary was sinless and a perpetual virgin, she could not suffer bodily deterioration, the result of original sin, after her death. Also, if Mary bore Christ and played an intimate role as His mother in the redemption of man, then she must likewise share body and soul in His resurrection and glorification.

Note that the solemn definition in Munificentissimus Deus does not specify whether Mary physically died before being assumed or just was assumed having fallen in a death-like sleep (i.e. dormition); instead, the solemn definition reads,   “Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life….” The Catechism, also quoting the Byzantine Liturgy, states:  “The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son’s resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians: ‘In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death’” (#966). In sum, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of the Second Vatican Council taught, “Finally, the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, when her earthly life was over, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords, and conqueror of sin and death” (#59).

Fr. Saunders, Pastor