IN EVERYTHING GOD WORKS FOR GOOD WITH THOSE WHO LOVE HIM
(A biblical reflection on the feast of the BIRTHDAY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY – Saturday, 8 September 2012)
First Reading: Rom 8:28-30
Alternative First Reading: Mic 5:1-4 or; Psalms: Ps 13:6; Gospel Reading: Mt 1:1-16,18-23 (Shorter version: Mt 1:18-23)
The Scripture Text:
We know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the first-born among many brethren. And those whom He predestined He also called; and those whom He called He also justified; ant those whom He justified He also glorified (Rom 8:28-30 RSV).
God’s purpose was to call a people into His redemptive plan, to free them of sin and condemnation, and to restore them to His image through the saving death and resurrection of His Son. People were to be vessels for carrying God’s plan to fulfilment and so, in every age there have been those who responded to the call and allowed God to work His will through them. Such were the patriarchs, the prophets, and all faithful men and women – including Mary, the mother of God, whose birthday the Church traditionally celebrates today.
Of Mary, more than of any other creature, can it be said that she was a vessel of election whom God foreknew, predestined, called, justified and glorified (see Rom 8:29-30). She alone, though part of a people God had called to Himself and whom He was making ready to be saved by His Son, was being prepared, even before her birth, to be the bearer of Christ to the world. She who was to bear the sinless one should herself be sinless, by the merits of the one she would bear.
As a true and humble daughter of Zion, Mary lived faithfully in accord with the law (Lk 2:22-24). She alone, a humble virgin, was to receive the announcement of salvation. In accepting her call to divine motherhood, she made it possible for God to use her to bear His Son.
This call of Mary and God’s glorious plan for her life is unique in the history of God’s people. But God has a plan for each of our lives which will be fulfilled if we – like Mary – respond wholeheartedly to His call. Such a response requires meeting God in daily prayer, in the reading of Scripture, and in faith-filled reception of the sacraments. God will come to us and nourish our desire to know Him in the person of His divine Son, to love Him and His will for us above all else, and to live for His honor and glory.
Since we know that “in everything God works for good with those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28), the witness of our lives and the proclamation of the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ will make us, like Mary, bearers of Christ to the world.
Short Prayer: Heavenly Father, the day of our salvation dawned when the Blessed Virgin gave birth to Your Son. As we celebrate her nativity, grant us Your grace and Your peace. Amen. (Adapted from: THE DIVINE OFFICE III)