Morning Mass for the Feast of the Assumption
Saturday, August 15, the Church celebrates the Assumption of Mary, when Mary, at the end of her life, was taken body and soul into heaven. This day is normally a holy day of obligation; however with the obligation to attend Sunday and Holy Day Masses still in effect, and that since it falls on a Saturday, it would have been dispensed this year even without Covid. Still, there will be a Mass celebrating the Assumption on Saturday, August 15, 2020 at 9 a.m. in the church. 
Memorial of Saint Dominic, Priest

Reading 1 HAB 1:12—2:4
Are you not from eternity, O LORD,
my holy God, immortal?
O LORD, you have marked him for judgment,
O Rock, you have readied him punishment!
Too pure are your eyes to look upon evil,
and the sight of misery you cannot endure.
Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence
while the wicked man devours
one more just than himself?
You have made man like the fish of the sea,
like creeping things without a ruler.
He brings them all up with his hook,
he hauls them away with his net,
He gathers them in his seine;
and so he rejoices and exults.
Therefore he sacrifices to his net,
and burns incense to his seine;
for thanks to them his portion is generous,
and his repast sumptuous.
Shall he, then, keep on brandishing his sword
to slay peoples without mercy?I will stand at my guard post,
and station myself upon the rampart,
And keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what answer he will give to my complaint.
Then the LORD answered me and said:
Write down the vision
Clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
If it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash man has no integrity;
but the just man, because of his faith, shall live.

Gospel MT 17:14-20
A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said,
“Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely;
often he falls into fire, and often into water.
I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
Jesus said in reply,
“O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you?
How long will I endure you? 
Bring the boy here to me.”
Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him,
and from that hour the boy was cured.
Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said,
“Why could we not drive it out?”
He said to them, “Because of your little faith.
Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you will say to this mountain,
‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.
Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. 
Take the Gospel to prayer:

Once more, Jesus assures us that nothing is impossible if you have faith. We justify our skepticism - I'm not as holy as the disciples so God couldn't work through me. We are used to accepting what the experts tell us -- yes, even in these Covid days. But we don't believe the biggest expert of all.

Perhaps part of our lack of faith is because the power of God scares us. We like control. But faith means things are not in my hands alone. Surrender is difficult especially because it means we must be prepared for outcomes that are not of our making either.

But look at the upside - nothing is beyond the power of God and God loves us unconditionally. What do we really need to fear?

Loving God, give me the faith to recognize that with You all things are possible.