Though today's feast is of the
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Gospel reading is the genealogy of her
Son Jesus on the male line through Joseph his foster-father to David all the
way back to Abraham. Mary's key role in salvation history is to be Mother of
the Son of God: "the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father
became incarnate from the Virgin Mary and was made man." The
genealogy of our Lord confirms and emphasizes his humanity: "And the Word was made flesh; he had
his tent pitched among us, and we have seen his Glory, the Glory of the only
Son coming from the Father: fullness of truth and loving kindness."
(Jn 1:14)
There are actually only three days
of birth celebrated in the liturgical/lờthờgicồ/ calendar: the one of Jesus,
St. John the Baptist and Mary. This should signal the great importance of these
persons in our history of salvation, each one taking a special part in it. What
is remarkable is that despite their respective utmost dignity, each one of them
underwent a human birth under ordinary circumstances, if not harsh conditions
like being born in a manger.
This must be the pattern of humility
with which God wanted to initiate the clear beginning of salvation for
humanity: to be great means to be lowly, the leader serves and is not to be
served, the first shall be last. As we
rejoice at the birth of Mary, we find a far deeper joy that from her birth will
follow the birth of Jesus. Her birth brings forth a hope for what is to come.
In her birth can be seen her future mission of delivering to the world the
bringer of salvation. How deeply profound then is her own nativity. St. Andrew
of Crete puts it beautifully: "This is, in fact, the day on which the
Creator of the world constructed His temple; today is the day on which, by a
stupendous project, a creature becomes the preferred dwelling of the
Creator."
If Jesus were to be truly Emmanuel, God-with-us, the God who is indeed one of
us, He would have to take on human flesh, and become human in every sense of
the word, except sin. The birth of Mary is a most crucial step towards this,
for it is of her own flesh that Jesus was going to be formed into a human
being.
Let us keep the Blessed Mother as
our model and inspiration. Let us continue to be encouraged by her to go
through each day with faith, hope, and love in our hearts.
Today, together with our Lady, we praise and thank the ever-loving God for
bringing her to life, that she may bring forth the Life of the world.
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