Mass Readings and Reflection for Thursday, August 20th, 2026

First Reading: (Ezekiel 36:23–28)

Responsorial Psalm: (Psalm 51)

R. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses.

Gospel: (Matthew 22:1–14)

Reflection: 

One of those Gospel readkng that gives you plethora of questions to ponder than answers. To begin with, why was this guest treated in such a harsh manner as depicted in the picture above? 

Was it his fault that he didn't have the best garments on?

Did the master not say to his servants, “Go out to the streets and invite everyone you find”? Did he specify that only those with wedding garments should be invited to come?

Did this guest even beg to be invited?  Perhaps he was on his way to go doing something elsewhere before the invitation met him.

And if the invitation met him on the streets, how did they expect him to have a wedding garment on him? Was he supposed to go home and get one before returning? Maybe, but did they give him enough time to do so?

Did he bargain to buy a wedding garment for a wedding party he had not planned for?

Did the others who were found on the streets and received the ssame kind of surprise invitation have wedding garments? Was he the only one who did not have one?

If the invitation was so abrupt, could the master not understand that the wedding was unplanned for this guest?

It seems as though the invitation already was set up to fail this man.

There are so many questions obviously that arise if we focus solely on the literal details of the story.

First, we must remember that it is a parable-a short story or illustration. The words used may be limited in their ability to express the full reality.

Therefore, rather than focusing exclusively on the exact details, we should look for the meaning behind the parable and the lesson Jesus is teaching.

It is like watching a movie and focusing entirely on whether a particular actor performed well instead of asking what the movie is trying to teach us.

The important question is:

What is the lesson?

The words of parables require interpretation.

The focus of this parable is God inviting all of us to heaven.

The banquet is ready.

Heaven is ready.

The invitation is open to all.

Heaven is meant for all.

Heaven is free.

We do not pay anything to enter heaven.

However, we cannot simply walk into heaven without preparation.

The fact that God wants all of us to enter heaven, and that the invitation is free and sometimes comes unexpectedly, does not mean that we can simply walk into it without transformation.

We need to be dressed and prepared.

The invitation meeting us on the streets symbolizes the different ways in which we encounter God.

Each person has a different conversion story.

Some became Christians from birth.

Some became Christians after many years of not going to church.

Others became Christians through different religious experiences.

Others became Christians because of an aunt, a parent, or the family in which they were raised.

We all have different invitations.

However the invitation reaches us, we must prepare ourselves.

The invitation may meet us on the streets, in church, in the marketplace, or somewhere else. But accepting the invitation requires preparation.

You have accepted the invitation.

Yes, you have accepted Christ.

Yes, you have become a Christian.

But we must prepare ourselves.

If you know the feast to which you have been invited and you know who invited you, you cannot use the fact that you were unexpectedly invited as an excuse to remain unprepared.

Let us look at the cultural context of the parable.

When such events were organized, the host, especially a king-customarily provided appropriate clothes for his guests. People were gathered from the streets, both good and bad. No one was expected to have been prepared beforehand.

Therefore, the man's lack of a wedding garment meant that he had intentionally rejected the clothing provided by the king and chosen to remain in his shabby clothes.

This explains why, when the king questioned him, he was speechless.

He had no excuse.

The clothes had been provided, but he refused to wear them.

To understand this further, we can look at Isaiah 61:10:

“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness.”

We can also look to Revelation 3:4 and Revelation 19:7–9, which speak of the marriage feast of the Lamb and the bride making herself ready.

We must clothe ourselves with the garment of righteousness that Christ offers us.

If we refuse that garment, we cannot blame God for the consequences.

Imagine that you are working on your farm in shabby farm clothes and someone suddenly tells you:

“Please come quickly. You have been invited to have lunch with the Pope, the cardinals, and the bishops.”

Would you not ask for a few minutes to take a quick bath and change your clothes?

Would you simply walk into the gathering without preparing yourself, knowing the people you were about to meet?

Of course you would ask for a few minutes to prepare.

That is what the parable means.

Yes, the banquet of heaven is ready.

The invitation is free.

The invitation is urgent.

It does not require delay or excuses.

Yet there is always time for preparation.

We must be clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

The guest symbolizes the receiver of God's word who needs the wedding garment-the sacrament of Baptism.

Unless we are born again of water and the Holy Spirit, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.

We must accept the gift of grace that God gives us.

That grace is the garment we must wear.

The invitation is given to everyone.

But we need the wedding garment.

We need inner transformation.

It is not enough merely to say yes to Christ's invitation. We must allow ourselves to be transformed from within.

For not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” who accepts the invitation, will enter heaven, but those who do the will of the heavenly Father.

We want heaven, but sometimes we do not want to abide by its requirements.

We want to be members of the wedding party, but we do not want to wear the garment of the wedding party.

We want to enter heaven, but not according to God's terms.

We like heaven.

We enjoy the invitation.

Yet we must live according to what is expected of us in order to enter.

May we never take the invitation to the heavenly banquet for granted.

The banquet is ready.

All are invited.

The invitation is free.

But we must put on the garment of righteousness and prepare ourselves for the feast.

Markets Today August 19th 2026

There was plenty if not a boat load of jitteriness in the capital markets this week, and the reason was simple: the 30-year Treasury yield surged to a 19-year high over 5.3.

If there's any reliable indicator of the economy's health, it's the bond market. The bond market is essentially the market for interest rates. It's slow, boring, and often overlooked by most investors and spectators alike, including myself. Fair enough. But when bond yields start moving sharply, everyone eventually pays attention.

When yields rise, high-value growth companies and stocks tend to get hit first. That's exactly what happened this week. The outcry across financial media was loud and clear, and futures markets today pointed sharply lower heading into this morning's trading session.

Then, before Wall Street could fully panic and turn the tables, some relief arrived from Papa Sam.

First, news broke that policymakers from the treasury department and elsewhere were considering measures aimed at easing debt issuance pressures and helping stabilize the bond market. Second, the administration's planned 50% tariff on one of America's largest trading partners and closest allies, Canada, was put on hold until further notice.

Those two developments changed the mood in not time.

Lower pressure on bond yields and a pause on a major trade escalation gave investors exactly what they were looking for: a reason to buy the dips. Futures reversed course, confidence improved, and the markets turned green.

Now you know why Wall Street is smiled today-relief.

Brought to you by your Pal, Mr. Spectator in Chief. 

Mass Readings and Reflection and Reflection for August 19th, 2026

 

First Reading: (Ezekiel 34:1–11)

Responsorial Psalm: (Psalm 23)

R/. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Gospel Acclamation:

Alleluia, alleluia.

The word of God is living and active;
it probes the thoughts and motives of our heart.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: (Matthew 20:1–16)

Reflection:

From the Gospel, we can see that Jesus threw everything upside down.

Human reason would say that the first workers should receive much more than those who worked only one hour. Yet Jesus is speaking about the kingdom of God.

When we look at salvation, the reward is to be fully united with God in heaven. It does not matter whether we have been good Christians all our lives, from childhood, or whether we experience a conversion at the last moment before death. The gift of salvation is the same.

This is why it is so important to give freely.

Sometimes we may look at another person and think, “I have been a good person all my life. Why should they receive the same thing I receive?”

But we do not always know what another person has endured. Someone who has been far away from the Lord, particularly someone struggling with addiction, may have experienced an internal battle between good and evil that is almost impossible for us to understand.

There are people who have already experienced what hell looks like.

God is a just judge, but he is also generous and merciful.

The first reading from Ezekiel gives us another important lesson. God strongly condemns the shepherds who feed themselves rather than the sheep. They have failed to strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bind up the injured, bring back the strayed, and seek the lost.

This message applies not only to the religious leaders of Ezekiel's time. It challenges shepherds today.

But the message also applies to every one of us.

How generous am I with my life? How generous am I with my resources? And am I willing to give them to God?

And this is needed today just as much as it was two thousand years ago.

People need signs they can trust. They need people who actually live what they preach.

This applies especially to parents. Parents are called to be examples for their children, offering a priestly presence in the home by living what they teach.

We are called not merely to preach the faith, but to live it daily.

And may we be generous with our gifts as God is generous with us.

Amen.

Sector Rotation at Best August 18th 2026

As a market spectator, I saw these guys were all as green can be just yesterday and today, they flipped into deep red.

Mass Readings and Reflection on Tuesday, August 18th, 2026

First Reading: (Ezekiel 28:1–10)

Responsorial Psalm: (Deuteronomy 32)

Response: I kill and I make alive.

Gospel: (Matthew 19:23–30)

Reflection:

Today gospel is yet one of those challenging ones to reflect on deeply. As believers, there's always the temptation we must keep in check especially when things are going well in our lives to think that we made it happened all by ourselves; we are self-made. I remember mocking with a friend some of our richest people in society who got a magazine citing them as self made billionaires. We were like "they must have given birth to themselves, too". The point was it's a lie. Nobody is self-made. We tend to pride ourselves in our abundance, feeling that we do not need God or others.

After all, what do I need from them? I have it all going well for me.

We start feeling that we are on top of the world and, rather than remaining humble, we think we have become God Himself, or even greater.

No wonder the Psalmist says:

"In his riches, man lacks wisdom."-Psalm 49:12, 20

This is the danger of riches. This is the danger of self-sufficiency. And that is what the Gospel today is pointing out. 

When that feeling comes, that because we have it all, therefore we know it all, we tends to become arrogant, unteachable, and fail to see the very vices that will lead to our own destruction.

That is why it's impossible to teach a person who feels they know it all because they think that having money, power, and influence means they know it all? We can all become victims of this. That is why a humble self reflection can be helpful. 

When Jesus said in the Gospel that it is hard for a rich person to enter heaven, He was not saying that it is bad to be rich. Far from it. Jesus had rich friends in His days.

Of course, it is God who blesses us with whatever we have.

Neither does He mean that rich people are automatically going to hell. Of course not.

There are saints who were kings and extremely wealthy. 

Very rich people can also go to heaven.

What Jesus wants us to understand is that we must guard against the dangers of self-sufficiency. It can pose as an obstacle to the Word of God because of self-sufficiency. 

Our riches can also blind us to our faults because we think we know it all.

We can feel that we are greater than God Himself, who blessed us, and think that it was entirely by our own merits, and effort that we became successful.

Our riches can make us develop an arrogant attitude, or they can distract us from God and heaven.

We may become too attached to our riches.

And remember: riches are not only material.

Our talents are our riches.

See how talented people sometimes behave.

Our intelligence is our riches.

See how intelligent people sometimes behave.

Our skills are our riches.

Your families are our riches.

We all have riches in different capacities and categories.

In the First Reading for instance, the Lord addresses the ruler of Tyre through the prophet Ezekiel.

Because his heart had grown proud, he said to himself:

"I am a god."

Yet God reminds him:

"You are but a man and no god."

He thought there was no one as wise as he was. He believed that his wisdom and intelligence had made him wealthy.

He believed that his skill in trading had enabled him to amass gold and silver.

But his fortune had made his heart proud.

Then God tells him that his enemies will besiege him, and he will discover how helpless he really is.

He will fall into the hands of his enemies and realize just how human he is.

This is the lot of those who trust in themselves.

As Proverbs 28:26 reminds us:

"He who trusts in his own mind is a fool."

And when the glory of a person's house increases, that person must still remember that earthly glory does not last forever.

We Are Nothing Without God

Remember:

We are nothing without God.

Who we are and what we have has been given to us by God.

We are nothing without Him.

So why should we pride ourselves because of our riches?

Why should we pride ourselves because of the things we own?

Why should we pride ourselves because of who we are?

Let not our self-sufficiency get into our heads.

Do not use our power, money, position, talents, or influence to intimidate others and make them feel inferior while we posture ourselves superior.

No one, remember, dies and is buried with their riches.

When we read and reflect on today's readings, we hear a call to humility in a subtle manner.

There is nothing we have that was not given to us by God.

Not even our intelligence.

It is not simply because we are extraordinarily talented or skillful in business that we have all the wealth we have.

God has been merciful to us all.

Therefore, let's remain humble.

Then we can use what God has blessed us, to also bless others who are not as fortunate or as we are.

Our blessings should become instruments through which other people experience God's goodness.

Finally, what we have should be a bridege to and not an island between us and God. It should always point us back to God:

Who would I have been without you, my God?

What would I have been without you?

Therefore, let us not become like the ruler of Tyre, who, because of his wealth, riches, and position, felt that he had become another god.

No.

We should always remain humble.

And remember the teaching of Jesus: let our riches never prevent us from coming closer to God and from coming closer to heaven.

God bless you 🙏 

Amen.

Mass Readings and Reflection for Monday, August 17th, 2026

First Reading: (Ezekiel 24:15–24)

Responsorial Psalm

The response is: Deuteronomy, chapter 32.

"You forgot God who gave you birth"

Gospel Acclamation:

Alleluia!Alleluia!

Gospel Reading: (Matthew 19:16–2

Reflection:

Today, the Gospel brings out two aspects of our Christian lives:

1. Avoiding evil.

2. Doing good.

We are meant to avoid evil, but at the same time, we are also meant to do good. They are two sides of the same coin. While we try to avoid evil, we must also try to do good.

Christianity is not only about not doing evil. It is not limited to avoiding evil. What good do you also do?

We could be very meticulous, very excellent, at avoiding evil. There are people who do not steal. They do not tell lies. They do not kill. They do not gossip. They do not fornicate. They do not hurt others because, of course, they mind their own business and respect their boundaries from other people.

They live in the comfort of their houses. They do not go out to meet others. That is all very wonderful.

But after all the avoiding of evil, what is the good that you do?

We should not end at observing the don'ts:

Don't do this.
Don't do that.

There are also the do's:

Do this.
Do that.

It may be easy for a day to pass by without one doing a single good thing, yet one may have avoided all evil.

You did not insult anyone, yet you did not reach out to anyone in need.

It is within this context and background that the question of the rich young man makes sense:

“What good must I do to inherit eternal life?”

He had observed the don'ts from when he was a boy, yet he felt empty. There was a void. He felt he needed something more.

Something was lacking.

Jesus told him:

“Yes, indeed, there is one thing you lack. Go and do something good.”

All along, he had avoided evil, but he needed to do something. He was told to go and give to the poor.

It is not enough to avoid evil.

Yes, you don't steal.
You don't cheat.
You don't embezzle.

But what is the good that you do for others?

Another biblical verse that beautifully captures this is (Isaiah 1:16)

“Wash, make yourselves clean, take your wrongdoings out of my sight. Cease to do evil, learn to do good.”

The young man was perfect in avoiding evil, but when it came to doing good, his countenance changed.

We are told that when Jesus told him to go and sell what he had and to do good, to give to the poor, he went away sad.

It was easy to avoid evil, but he found it difficult to do good.

He will not steal.
He will not lie.
But he will not assist the poor.

The challenge, therefore is to ask ourselves:

“What is the good thing that I do?”

It is good to avoid evil, but it doesn't end there.

What is the good that you do?

So, as you move about today, as we begin this new week, let you not end at just avoiding evil.

Like once someone told me:

“I don't go to church because I don't steal. I don't lie. Let the thieves and the liars go to church.”

True.

But what is the good thing you do?

Let us pray for that grace, that we may not end at only avoiding evil, which is one side of the coin, but that we may also learn to do good.

Amen.

When You Fly Blind

 

Mass Reading and Reflection for Sunday August 16th 2026

First Reading: (Isaiah 56:1, 6–7)

Responsorial Psalm: (Psalm 67)

R. Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

Second Reading: (Romans 11:13–15, 29–32)

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: (Matthew 15:21–28)

Reflection: 

Persistence often pays!

From the Gospel the Canaanite woman was a pagan, yet she came to Jesus seeking help for her daughter.

The disciples wanted her sent away because she was crying after them.

But Jesus did not allow human prejudice to have the final word.

Her faith was ultimately recognized by Jesus:

“O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you desire.”

And her daughter was healed instantly.

Gentiles too are children of God.

Jesus came for all, Jews as well as Greeks.

Surprisingly, some of those who demonstrated the greatest faith were Gentiles who were almost pushed away by the Jews.

The first reading makes this universal invitation clear.

Isaiah speaks of foreigners who adhere to the Lord, serve him, love his name, observe the Sabbath and hold fast to his covenant.

God says:

“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

They too are children of God, and salvation is open to them.

This is the universal saving will of God: that all people may be saved.

God reaches out even to those who may seem distant from him so that they too may receive salvation.

In the second reading, Saint Paul calls himself an apostle to the Gentiles.

He reaches out to them so that all might be saved.

The responsorial psalm gives us the same universal vision:

“Let the peoples praise you, O God. Let all the peoples praise you.”

And:

“Let all nations learn your salvation.”

The question for each of us is therefore:

What do we do to reach out to everyone, even those who do not worship with us?

How universal are we?

How Catholic are we?

Let us pray that missionaries may continue to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth according to Christ's command:

“Go and make disciples of all nations.”

Let leaders work for the common good of all, not merely for a select few, remembering that all are citizens of the same country.

For we are all sons and daughters of the same heavenly Father.

And God is Father of us all.

That is why, at every Holy Mass, we address him as:

“Our Father,”

not merely “my Father.”

He is Father of us all.

Let us pray for the grace to live together, accepting one another as brothers and sisters of the same heavenly Father. 

Amen

The Trouble With Healthcare In America

 

Mass Readings and Reflection for Saturday, August 15th, 2026: Assumption Saturday

First Reading: (Revelation 11:19; 12:1–6, 10)

Responsorial Psalm: (Psalm 45)

Response: On your right stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

Second Reading: (1 Corinthians 15:20–27)

Gospel: (Luke 1:39–56)

Reflection: 

Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Church teaches that after her earthly life, the Blessed Virgin Mary was taken up into heaven, body and soul. As human beings, we know that death is the experience we shall all pass through. At death, the body is separated from the soul. The body decays at burial on account of sin, (Romans 8:10).

It is only at the resurrection that we shall have glorified bodies, different from our earthly bodies. As (Philippians 3:20–21), (1 John 3:2), and (1 Corinthians 15:42–44) tells us.

But in the case of the Blessed Virgin Mary, although she was a human being, she was privileged that the same body she used on earth was the same body she took into heaven. She was assumed body and soul into heaven. Her earthly body did not undergo decay.

When we teach this, some people think we are making Mary into a (g)od or comparing her with God. No, she isn't God.

There were others who received the privilege of not undergoing bodily corruption. The prophet Elijah, for example, did not even die. He was taken up into heaven by a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:1). Was he God? Not at all. It was a privilege granted to him.

There are also saints who had the gift of incorruptibility. We think of St. Bernadette Soubirous, St. John Mary Vianney, St. Catherine Labouré, St. Padre Pio, and St. Carlo Acutis (recent). These were human beings who died, but their bodies did not undergo corruption. It was a privilege granted to them by God.

There are other saints whose bodies decayed, but these ones did not. It was a privilege granted to them by God.

So why do we think Mary should not enjoy privileges granted to her by God as a human being?

The lives we are living now is itself a privilege. Others are dead. The jobs we have is a privilege. Others do not have it. The families we have, the talents we have, and the opportunities we have that others do not have are all privileges given to us by God.

So why do we think Mary should not enjoy privileges granted to her by God?

The Bible teaches us that our bodies decay on account of sin. If we teach and believe that Mary was without sin, that she was immaculately conceived, that God preserved her from the stain of original sin, and that she did not commit personal sin, then it follows that she did not have to undergo decay, just as Jesus did not decay because he did not sin.

Again, all this was a privilege granted to her by God.

For those who always seek biblical proof, where is it found in the Bible that Mary was taken up into heaven?

Some lay the claim to sola scriptura, meaning Scripture alone, and argue that if something is not explicitly in the Bible, therefore it is not true.

But Scripture itself confirms that it is limited in what it records. In (John 21:25), we are told that not everything Jesus said or did was written in the Bible. If everything had been written, the world itself could not contain all the books that would be written.

Therefore, certain things were written, but not everything.

For this reason, the Catholic Church teaches us that we should also make recourse to Sacred Tradition and to the teaching of the Magisterium, the teaching authority of the Church. They also reveal truth to us.

Jesus said:

“Many things I still have to say to you that I have not said, but when I go and the Holy Spirit comes, he will reveal to you all truth.”

The Holy Spirit continues to teach, inspire, and reveal truth.

When the Holy Spirit inspires the teaching authority of the Church, the Magisterium, and the Church teaches, Catholics receive that teaching as divinely revealed truth.

Therefore, the fact that something is not explicitly written in the Bible does not automatically mean that it is false.

Let us go back to those who claim that because something is not explicitly in the Bible, it cannot be true.

Where is it in the Bible that we should go to church on Sunday?

The Bible says, “Keep holy the Sabbath,” and the Sabbath is Saturday.

Yet Christians go to church on Sunday.

Where is the verse that explicitly says we should go to church on Sunday?

There is no such verse.

But through Sacred Tradition and the teaching of the Magisterium, Christians came to observe the day of the Lord's Resurrection. If we go back to the Acts of the Apostles, we see the early Christians beginning to honor the day of the Lord's Resurrection.

So we cannot limit ourselves simply to asking, “Where is it found in the Bible?”

The Church makes recourse to biblical passages and, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, understands and teaches the truths of the faith.

Mary's Assumption

Where does Scripture tell us explicitly that Mary was taken up into heaven body and soul?

There is no single verse that says, “Mary was assumed into heaven.”

But there are biblical passages that the Church makes recourse to and interprets in light of Sacred Tradition.

Did Mary die?

Yes, of course she died.

Because Jesus died, Mary, sharing in the earthly ministry of her Son, also certainly died.

But nowhere in Scripture do we find an explicit statement that Mary died.

Does that mean she did not die?

Of course not.

Nowhere in Scripture do we find an explicit statement that St. Joseph, the husband of Mary, died. Does that mean he did not die?

Of course not.

The fact that Scripture does not record something does not mean that the event did not happen.

Where does Scripture explicitly tell us that there are three persons in one God?

There is nowhere that the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is written in those exact words. Yet the Trinity is a truth taught to us by the Magisterium, grounded in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, and received as Christian truth.

The Church also makes recourse to the image of the Ark of the Covenant.

In (Exodus 25), God gave Moses instructions for the construction of the Ark of the Covenant. It was to be made of fine material, acacia wood, and pure gold.

The Old Testament Ark contained the covenant and the sacred things of God.

Mary can be understood as the New Testament Ark because she carried Jesus, the New Covenant between God and humanity, in her womb.

If the Old Testament Ark that contained the covenant was treated with such reverence, then Mary, who carried Christ Himself, the New Covenant, was uniquely privileged by God.

That is why she was preserved from the stain of original sin-a privilege granted to her by God.

“On Your Right Stands the Queen”

The response to today's Psalm says:

“On your right stands the queen in gold of Ophir.”

The Book of Revelation, chapter 12, depicts a woman appearing as a great sign in heaven, with a crown upon her head of twelve stars.

The Church understands this imagery in connection with the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In Luke 1, Mary herself says:

“All generations will call me blessed.”

She is full of grace, a special privilege granted to her by God.

But above all, celebrating Mary's Assumption foreshadows the resurrection of all the just.

It points us toward the destiny of every Christian who remains faithful to God.

Mary as Mother and Intercessor

The Assumption presents Mary to us as a mother and intercessor.

As we celebrate the great things that God has done for her and in her life, let us also celebrate what God has done and continues to do in our own lives.

The Preface of today's Mass beautifully expresses this mystery:

“It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, Holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord.”

Today the Virgin Mother of God was assumed into heaven as the beginning and image of the Church's coming to perfection and a sign of sure hope and comfort to your pilgrim people.

The Assumption of Mary is therefore not merely a celebration about Mary.

It is also a message of hope for us.

Mary's glorification points toward the destiny God desires for His faithful people.

Her Assumption reminds us that our earthly life is not the end. Death is not the final word. The resurrection awaits those who belong to Christ.

Mary stands before us as an example of what God can accomplish in a person who completely gives herself to Him.

Let us therefore imitate her faith, her humility, her obedience, her trust, and her willingness to cooperate with God's plan.

You will not allow her to see the corruption of the tomb, since from her own body she marvelously brought forth your incarnate Son, the author of all life.

Amen.

O Mary, assumed into heaven, intercede for us. 

Amen.