Catholic youth celebrate annual picnic in honor of Mary

SALT LAKE CITY — The Pastoral Juvenil Hispana from the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City has planned its annual picnic, which celebrates the Mother of God.

"We try to do this event every year, we honor the Assumption of the Holy Virgin and it’s always celebrated around the 15th of August," said Maria-Cruz Gray, director of the Hispanic Ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City.

Aug. 15 is the day the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Assumption. It is the principal feast of the Blessed Virgin, the mother of Jesus Christ. This feast commemorates two events - the departure of Mary from earthly life and the assumption of her body into heaven.

The Church’s official doctrine of the Assumption says that at the end of her life on earth Mary was assumed, body and soul, into heaven.

Some mistakenly believe Mary "ascended" into heaven. Jesus Christ who ascended into heaven by his own power. Mary, his mother, was assumed – or taken up – into heaven by God.

Pope Pius Xll, in 1950, declared that Mary "after the completion of her earthly life...was assumed body and soul into the glory of Heaven."

Although the Church leaves open the question of whether Mary died before her Assumption, the common belief in the early Church was that she did die, and there are claims by some cities about possessing her temporary tomb.

In the early Christian centuries relics of saints were jealously guarded. Many cities claim the earthly remains of saints, both famous and little-known, but there are no records of Mary’s bodily remains being venerated anywhere.

The Diocese of Salt Lake City’s annual Pastoral Juvenil Hispana picnic is always held in a park, which is reserved just for that occasion. This year, the Hunter Ridge Park Pavilion will be the venue for the first time.

"We are going to use the Hunter park because it seems that a lot of Hispanics live around that area," Gray said.

The picnic will include food, beverages, games, confessions, a conference and a Mass.

"This event is to remain the youth that we are all not alone; our Holy Mother is always there for us protecting us," said Gray. "It’s very nice that in the event you might see a priest walking next to a youth and what they are doing is a confession."