[1]We can see every
human birth as a call for new hope in the world. The love of a man and a woman
has joined with God in His creative work. The loving parents have shown hope in
a world filled with travail. The new child has the potential to be a channel of God’s
love and peace to the
world.
This is all true in a magnificent way in
Mary. The text from Romans reminds us that God guides every age of salvation
history. The long genealogy we have just heard lists Joseph’s male ancestors.
Yet let’s not overlook the mention of the five women included in the genealogy (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, the wife of Uriah, &
Mary).
Each woman tells a story of God’s loving hands refining the lineage of Jesus.[2]
Nine months ago, we celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. St. Anna and
Joachim though infertile, pray for a child. They receive the promise of a child
who will advance God’s plan of salvation for the world. Such a story, like many
biblical counterparts, stresses the special presence of God in Mary’s life from
the beginning.[3]
Mary was consecrated to the God, by her
parents, and God blessed Mary with this event in anticipation of her as the
pure vessel to bear the Messiah, at the proper time. So, on March 25, the Church
celebrates her Annunciation. When the Angel
Gabriel announces the good news of God’s plan and Mary said, yes.
Nine months after the Feast of the
Annunciation, we celebrate the Nativity of Jesus. But let us remember, just a
few weeks after the Annunciation was the Visitation.
When Mary goes in haste to the hill country to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who
has also experienced a miraculous conception, and Mary is present for the birth
of St. John the Baptist. This prenatal journey challenges us to revere the sacred
stories of conception and birth.
Therefore, if Jesus is the perfect
expression of God’s love, Mary is the foreshadowing of that love. And, if Jesus
has brought the fullness of salvation, Mary is its dawning.
Birthday celebrations bring happiness to the
celebrant as well as to family and friends. Next to the birth of Jesus, Mary’s
birth offers the greatest possible happiness to the world. Each time we
celebrate her birth, we can confidently hope for an increase of peace in our
hearts and the opportunity ourselves to be a channel of God’s love in the world.
Our special prayer on this day is to have respect for all life in all its stages. May Mary who gave us life through her son, inspire us to respect life as an amazing gift from God.
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