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Meditation: Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Behold, the virgin shall be with child. (Matthew 1:23)

For centuries, God had been promising his people a savior, one who would “shepherd his flock” and whose greatness would “reach to the ends of the earth” (Micah 5:3). So over the generations, countless Jews waited, trusting that God’s promises would be fulfilled. That’s why the birth of Mary was such a momentous event: it signaled the time of fulfillment.

The Church has celebrated Mary’s birth since the sixth century, not only to honor her as the Mother of God but also to mark a unique moment in salvation history. As the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council put it, “After a long period of waiting, the times are fulfilled in her, the exalted Daughter of Zion, and the new plan of salvation is established” (On the Church, 55).

Today’s feast tells us that God always keeps his promises. Mary and Joseph knew this truth. What a shocking message the angel Gabriel delivered when he told Mary that she, a virgin, was to bear God’s Son! She didn’t know how it would happen, yet she believed. When Joseph learned in a dream that Mary’s child was conceived through the Holy Spirit, he too trusted God’s word and acted in faith by marrying her. And neither of them was disappointed.

Today is a great day to rejoice in God’s faithfulness and love. It’s a day to celebrate that love as it was manifested in the Virgin Mary. We see that love in every episode of her life. Naturally, we want to honor her for saying yes to the angel at the Annunciation. But that yes was the culmination of years of humble openness to the Lord. And for all those years, we should rejoice and praise the Lord.

Today is also a great day to imitate Mary with our own yes to God. It’s a great day to tell him that we want to try our best to follow Mary’s example. We may not be perfectly sinless, but Christ still lives in us. Let’s honor him today by taking his mother’s advice: “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5).

“Lord, give me the grace to believe that you will fulfill all your promises in my life. Mary, pray for me to have the same trust that you had.”

Micah 5:1-4; Psalm 13:6

A Christian Pilgrim

THE BIRTH OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

08 Sep

THE BIRTH OF THE BLESED VIRGIN MARY – 8 SEPTEMBER

In celebrating this special feast of the Virgin Mary, St. Andrew of Crete [c.650-July 4, 712 or 726 or 740] once declared, “Let all creation sing and dance and contribute its fullest measure of joy to the day’s celebration. Today heaven and earth join in a single festival and celebrate together, for today a shrine is fashioned for the world’s Creator! Today a new dwelling is readied by creatures for the Author of creation!” We also can join in the rejoicing, since it was for our sake too that God chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus.

We are all familiar with the famous passage from John’s Gospel that says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). We hear this verse and marvel at God’s plan of salvation in Christ. But it’s also marvelous the way God’s plan involved a sinless virgin mother to bear His Son into the world.

From age to age, God has unfolded His plan with painstaking care. He did not just send Jesus to earth one day. He had to choose and form the right parents for His Son, and He even went so far as to choose and form His grandparents, and so on. Imagine all the work God did to shape Mary so that she could become Jesus’ first teacher in what it was like to live in this world and stay close to God.

Recalling all God’s plans shows us how committed God is to us. Indeed, just as God carefully chose Mary to play a special part in His plan of salvation, He now has an important role for each of us to play as we imitate Mary’s humility and trust. Just as He did with Mary, God delights in telling us the plans He has for us!