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Below is the most recent email.
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Assumed into Heaven…
Body and Soul
Thursday, August 13, 2026
Dear Friends in Christ,
This Saturday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is not a Holy Day of Obligation this year, but it is a Holy Day of Opportunity. Hey, you already have the day off, so I encourage you to come to the 830am Mass on Saturday to honor our Lady and celebrate this singular grace our Lord has bestowed on her.
The Assumption of our Lady flows – as do all her privileges – from the singular grace of being the Mother of God. She is assumed soul and bodyinto heaven because she is the one who physically conceived and bore the Son of God.
For us, the Eucharist is the “pledge of future glory,” a cause of our bodies being raised from the dead and brought to heaven. “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (Jn 6:54). He nourishes us, soul and body, into eternal life. For Mary it’s also because she nourished Him with her flesh and blood that she is assumed bodily into heaven.
The Assumption is also a feast of wholeness. The fact that God allowed no decay of death to touch His Mother is evidence of His power and promise to restore us to wholeness. Unlike Mary, we suffer division and defects – spiritual, physical, psychological. She is the first fruits of our Lord’s resurrection and her Assumption reveals what God will make all of us on the last day.
So, here are some prayers for the Assumption. First, that we will grow in reverence for Mary’s Divine Motherhood, that the Son of God comes to us from her Yes and from her womb. Second, that we grow in respect for all motherhood, by which God creates a new life in a woman’s womb. Third, a deepened love for the Eucharist, by which the Son of Mary nourishes us with His Body and Blood. Finally, for wholeness – that God continue to deepen His healing grace within us, soul and body.
Updates…
An Expectant Father…
Now-Deacon Isaiah Klena, who grew up at Saint James, will be ordained a Carmelite priest on Saturday. Please keep him in your prayers! He will return to Saint James on August 23rd to offer a Mass of Thanksgiving at Noon. We will have a reception afterwards to rejoice in his ordination!
Prep Registration
Our Parish Religious Education Program is accepting registrations for new students for the 2026-2027 religious education program. Go here for more info.
To be an informed voter…Saint James Respect Life Group invites you to hear Olivia Gans Turner speak on the proposed Virginia constitutional amendments on abortion and marriage. Join us on Monday, August 31stat 7:00pm in Monsignor Heller Hall. Following her own abortion experience, Olivia co-founded Women Exploited by Abortion and now serves as president of the Virginia Society for Human Life. Go here and here for more information on the proposed amendments.
Interested in becoming Catholic?
The Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA) program is for non-Catholic adults who desire to become Catholic or just to learn more about Catholicism.
The OCIA program begins Wednesday, September 9th, 7:00pm-8:30pm in the IHM Conference Room. We ask that people who intend to enter the Church attend the classes regularly, live in a manner consistent with the faith, and discern prayerfully their calling. To learn more about OCIA, click here. To register or speak with Father Pavlick about the OCIA program, contact him at 703-532-8815 or [email protected]
Support a FOCUS Missionary
Long time parishioner Mitchell Ruland is now a missionary with FOCUS. If you don’t know about that group, you really should, as it’s had a profound impact on college life and bringing young people to the Church.
Here it is in Mitchell’s words: We are a Catholic missionary group that sends missionaries to college campuses to reach students from all walks of life. In order to accomplish our mission, we focus on divine intimacy with God so that our work bears fruit as well as authentic friendship with the students on campus to help guide and lead them in their faith. We do this by hosting Bible studies to intellectually form them and Discipleship meetings to help them grow in virtue and spiritually through prayer and the sacraments. Not only do we invite students in and build them up in their faith, but we also send them out to also evangelize and lead others in their faith journeys to reach those we cannot reach. If you are interested in knowing more, you can take a look at my webpage or reach out to me through by email.
The 1% Prayer Challenge
Sounds easy, right? Just one percent. Go here to learn more.
It’s Back to School…for everybody!
Point is, we should continue to study and learn our faith. Take a look at the various options for study groups and bible studies in the parish.
Poetic Humor
A programmer, able and bright,
Went to sea on a warm summer night,
But his boat soon went down,
And the poor fella drowned,
For his barque was much worse than his byte.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Scalia