+ Today we celebrate the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a feast originating somewhere
between the fourth and the seventh centuries. We know next to nothing about the events surrounding this
noteworthy event. It is only through the apocryphal Gospel of James that we know something about Sts. Joachim and Anne,
her parents and about the fact that they had a girl-child whom they named Mary,
whom they presented to the Lord in the Temple, thus dedicating her to God for
life. And so even though the details are sketchy, this only adds to the
mystique that we have about Mary as a pure, humble, out-of-the-limelight maiden
of Nazareth. She is not the key figure in all of human history: her future son
would be that: Jesus Christ, who would be Son of God and Son of Man through her
own humanity.
The first reading today talks
of those who are predestined to
experience the fullness of God’s grace: Mary certainly was that, from the
first moment of her existence she was full
of grace: the grace that was to be reestablished by Christ her son; and so
Mary, then, was the first to “resemble Jesus her son” to the point that God
delighted in her as a true daughter, in Christ.
We rejoice with Mary on her
birthday today and ask her to pray for us constantly so that we may resemble
not only Jesus her son (to the delight of God the Father) in his gentle,
patient, compassionate nature; but also her, in her humility, poverty and
obedience.
Mary,
you are the Dawn, and Christ your Son is the Perfect Day!
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