The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary—September 8, 2021

 

Today, in the liturgical calendar of the Church, we celebrate the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to celebrate Her birthday, Holy Mother Church places the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew as our Gospel reading for Today’s Mass. 

 

In the first part of the Gospel, we heard the genealogy of Jesus. Usually, this long list of names is omitted, but the meaning of the genealogy is rich in meaning. One way to understand this list of names, as St. Irenaeus writes, is to show that the Incarnation is an event that took place over a long period of time so that God gradually accustomed Himself to the human race. All though this is very true, another way to look at it, as Bishop Barron writes, is by looking very carefully into the names in that list. There we can find saints, sinners, cheaters, prostitutes, murders, poets, kings, every single type of person that eventually leads to the birth of Jesus Christ. The main point, however, is to show that “God became one of us in all our grace and embarrassment, in all our beauty and ordinariness. And what good news is this for us. It means that God can bring the Christ to birth even in people like us”

 

Today we celebrate the nativity of the new Eve—who by her yes—the plan of redemption took place. St. Andrew of Crete tell us that, “this is the day 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.” St. Andrew is right to describe Mary as the New temple since Jesus dwelled within her. She became a living tabernacle—the new arc of the covenant. Not only this, but Mary was also a disciple. In the Divine Plan, Mary was the first disciple of Jesus, and her entire life was to obey her Son and proclaim Him. 

 

This feast, however, is very important for the Local Church of Los Angeles. It is a blessing that today we celebrate the Birth of the blessed mother in our Local Church because 250^th years ago Mission San Gabriel was founded. This means the birth of Christianity in what is Los Angeles today. 250th years ago, Franciscan Missionaries arrived in this land with the hope of bringing Jesus to the people of this place and make a living tabernacle of every single person here. It was with the help of the Blessed Mother that those efforts were successful since Christianity is very much alive today and will continue to be alive in the future to come. 

 

Just like Mary, we are called to become temples of the living Christ and to become His disciples. Just like Mary, we are called to continue to say yes to Him in every blessing or trial He sends. Just like Mary, we are called to be obedient and be with Jesus till the bitter end. 

Just like Mary we are called to be Messengers of Jesus and proclaim His good news. 

Let us, then, celebrate the birth of Mary today with such joy having confidence that she will lead us to her Son.