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8th September

Feast of Nativity of Our Mother Mary

READ: (Mic 5: 1-5a; Matt 1: 1-16, 18-23)

REFLECT: Mary – the bringer of peace, bearer of Saviour and Grace…

Dear friends, today we celebrate the birthday of Mary our dear mother. Although we do not have the birth story of mother Mary in the scripture, it is the tradition of the catholic church to commemorate the birthday of Mary our Mother on 8th September, nine months after her Immaculate Conception on 8th December as the child of Saints Joachim and Anne and honor for the gift of her life, through whom God pitched His tent in and through Jesus Christ. The earliest known account of Mary's birth, her parents name as Joachim and Anne, their childlessness and incessant prayers to God for a child was a gift that God gave them Mary at a later stage of life is found in the protoevangelium of James, an apocryphal text from the late second century, which is not included in the canon of the bible.

It is as well worth mentioning that in the Catholic Church we celebrate the birthday of two most important persons along with Jesus our savior i.e., the nativity of Mary and John the Baptist. It is because of the important role that each one played in preparing the way for Jesus the messiah (John the Baptist) and bringing forth the savior into the world by co-operating with God in the salvation of the world (Mother Mary).

Just as every birth brings joy, so also the birthday of a Mother who brought forth a Saviour into the world is special and a joyful occasion for all the Catholics and to all those who trust in the powerful intercession of Blessed Mother Mary. So based on the liturgy of the word, I would like to share with you three points of reflection.

1. Mary the bringer of peace

Peace is freedom from disturbance, whether outwardly as of a nation from war or enemies or inwardly within the soul. The Hebrew word ‘shalom’ means soundness, prosperity, well-being in general, being in good relationship with God and Humans as well.  Today, peace is the need of the hour. We all of us get disturbed, worried, dismayed, get carried away by fear and unnecessary fantasies of suffering and death. At times we feel that we have lost life and therefore we are in search for life to live in peace. I am sure, we have not lost the peace because the peace is within each one of us i.e., Jesus. The one who has Jesus will have peace or in whom Jesus lives there is peace. Because, Jesus came to give us peace, which no one can give us. Mary being the chosen one of God to bring that peace accepts the plan of God and brings peace to entire human race by her co-operation and acceptance.

The first reading from prophet Micah is a reminder for all of us as the Lord says through him that from Bethlehem a ruler shall be raised for Israel. The name ‘Bethlehem’ is mentioned because the Messiah will come from the line of David whose roots are in Bethlehem.  It also speaks of a woman who would give birth to a son and he would shepherd them as a shepherd guards and save the flock and he himself shall be peace. The Mathew’s Gospel shows as fulfillment of this prophecy with the birth of Jesus (Matt 2:6).  So we see Mother Mary brings peace to humankind and gives Jesus the peace-giver.

So today like Mother Mary, we are called to create a peaceful atmosphere in oneself, family, society and the world. There are people who wait for an opportune time to create conflict and divisions. There are people who succumb to such situations and lose peace of mind in oneself and others. There are still people who try to promote peace but fail because many do not support a common cause for peace.  But if each one realizes that we have Jesus the peace within, we can create happiness wherever we go or we are. So like Mary Let us bring peace to humanity by good deeds.

2. Mary the bearer of Savior

We find ourselves so happy and delightful, when we become victorious of things we never imagined to win or get rid of or when saved from dangerous situations which we thought to be an inescapable reality. But God made it possible to save us all through his Son Jesus Christ by Mother Mary, a favored one of God in the salvific event. The Gospel of Mathew opens with the account of Genealogy. Just as every book in the bible makes an attempt to show the event and persons they speak about are rooted in the earlier history, so also Mathew the evangelist gives us account of genealogy from Abraham till Joseph. The records are important to present Jesus as the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham and David.  In Matt 1:16 we read, Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and from her came Jesus who is called the Christ, the Messiah.

The presentation of Genealogy connects the family ties of Jesus to the descendent of David. God uses mother Mary as an instrument and vehicle for Jesus to be born in her womb to save the human family. So Mary bears in her womb Jesus the savior. But looking at the life of mother Mary we all know that Mary not only bore Jesus the savior in her womb at the time of conception rather every moment of her life. Mother Mary made Jesus Christ born every moment by the fact that she bore witness to Jesus Christ. Today we can also bear Jesus Christ in mind, heart, body and soul whenever we bear witness to Christ the savior. Bearing witness to Christ would mean that we represent Jesus in word and deed like Jesus and doing God’s will, even if it costs us to give ourselves.

Just as Mary our Mother bore Jesus the savior by being a medium to bring forth Jesus into the world and by bearing witness to Jesus and journeying with Jesus during his life, ministry, passion, death, resurrection and even after, let us also bear Jesus the savior to the world by bearing witness to Christ in our lives. Just as humanity was entrapped by evil and its circumstances earlier and was in need of God’s grace through Jesus Christ, similar and larger the number of people who are entrapped by evil element in the world. We need to save them and free them from such traps. So like Mary who cooperated with the plan of God in the saving act of God for humanity, let us also cooperate with God through Jesus to save the human family from all traps of the world.

3. Mary the bearer of Grace:

The grace of God is important for all of us and without God’s grace we can do nothing. The grace of God is a divine favor that sustains and strengthens us and all that we have and are is God’s grace. That’s what we see in the Gospel of today, how Mother Mary is enveloped by the grace of the Holy Spirit. The Gospel of Mathew 1:18-23 speaks of the way that birth of Jesus took place. It all takes place in a divine atmosphere. Of course the entire life of Jesus was divinely favored by God but more significantly the birth narrative of Jesus has a divine feel because of the divine touch and presence of God. The angel of the Lord in apparition, the grace of the Holy Spirit in Mary’s conception, the name of the child as Jesus and Emmanuel… All these point out to a grace-filled moment and ambience. The apparition of an angel of God, conception by the Holy Spirit cannot take place to an ordinary family without the grace of God.

The favor of God was with Mary and Joseph, the grace of God had overshadowed them and so the entire ambience was gracious and grace filled. Similarly, when we have the grace of God or when we bear the grace of God, we will be able to receive divine and noble plans of God and give the grace and blessings of God to one another. Mother Mary not only received the grace of God to bear Christ the Savior rather to give Christ the grace to one another by her life on earth. Today, we all have grace of God in us, but we don’t realize the grace of God or we have lost that grace or divine fiber because of sins and stains, evil ways and means. It is an opportune time to seek and ask for the grace of God to get rid of the disgraces, discomforting and disgusting moments through the intercession of Blessed mother, who herself is the embodiment of God’s grace to us. So let us be a reflection of God’s grace to one another like Mary.

RESPOND:

Like Mother Mary Can I become the bringer of Peace?

Can I become a bearer of Christ the Saviour by witnessing Christ in my daily life?

Can I become the bearer of grace to give the grace of God to one another?

So Let us like Mother Mary be open and receptive to God’s plan, bring peace, bear Christ in life and bear the grace of God in life. Amen.

“The Glorious Virgin, since she shared all common human wretchedness, with the exception of whatever leads to sin. She made use of them to practice and grow in the holy virtues of fortitude, temperance, justice, prudence, poverty, humility, patience and piety. These virtues were a help to charity strengthening it and ever moving forward.” (St. Francis De Sales, TLG, Bk. VII, Ch. 14, p. 246).

God Bless us all… Happy Feast

Live Jesus