Yesterday, the Church celebrated the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is the moment when our Lady was taken, body and soul, up into heaven. As with many of the feasts that we celebrate in the Church, this is not only a significant occasion in the past, but it is also something that is significant for us here and now in the present. 

Earlier this week, we celebrated the Feast of Mary, Mother of the Church. This may seem like an odd title for Mary: how can she be mother of an organization? The first thing that this title calls us to remember is that the Church is more than a mere organization. The Church is not some non-governmental organization or charity group; the Church is the Mystical Body of Christ. Just as the human body is compiled of many individual cells united together by a single soul, so too the Church is compiled of many individual persons united together by the one Holy Spirit and united to Jesus Christ her Head. What is it that Mary gave birth to? Jesus. Therefore, Mary is the mother of the Church Universal.