Reflection
The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today the Church celebrates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. Happy Birthday, Mother Mary!
The New Testament Gospels tell us nothing about Mary prior to the Annunciation. The apocryphal Gospel of James, however, gives a detailed story about her birth and childhood which, somehow, became a source for Mariology.
According to James (a purported stepbrother of Jesus through Joseph’s previous marriage), she was born to a wealthy couple named Joachim and Anne. Distressed because they had no offspring, they prayed to God for a child. Their prayers were answered when an angel appeared to Anne and told her God was blessing her with a very special child. Anna dedicated her daughter to God and, when her daughter was three-years old, sent her to be raised in the Temple. Regardless of its accuracy, this story foreshadows the Annunciation and hints at the Immaculate Conception.
We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.
-Romans 8:28
Today’s Feast of the Nativity does not merit a holy day like the Annunciation and Immaculate Conception. Those two events mark Mary as uniquely favored and raises her above all other saints. This feast, however, can be a celebration of every child’s birth. God blesses every mother and father by allowing them to participate in His miracle of creating new life.
God only knows (literally) what challenges lie ahead for each child and what special gift each child can bring to the world, but every parent can be assured that God loves their child and desires that child to ultimately join Him.
For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His son,
-Romans 9:29-30
so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
And those He predestined He also called;
and those He called he also justified;
and those He justified He also glorified.
