Birthday's are festive times, and although Mary probably didn't
celebrate hers like 21st century Americans, we ought to celebrate it with real joy.
Mary is the one who’s "yes" to the angel and God made possible the
entrance of Jesus into history and her birthday might be a time for us to light
a few candles to remember her life and her sorrows.
There are few
saints who teach us more about accepting and celebrating life as it unfolds
than Mary. Apparently content with her life, especially after she was promised
in marriage to Joseph, her life turned upside down when she was still a young
girl. A visit from an angel invited her to know God in a more intimate way than
anyone before her, but this knowledge came at a great price. She would be
talked about and ridiculed, forced to flee her country and family, and when she
was free to return to Palestine after Herod's death, she would be faced with the
awful burden of watching her son suffer and die as a common criminal.
No wonder we want
to celebrate her birthday. Mary's nativity invites us to trust that even that
which appears and feels like an overwhelming sorrow, will be transformed by God
into hope for all peoples and all nations. Happy birthday, Mary. Thank you for
showing us the path to hope in darkness.
Today, ask God for
the grace to embrace whatever comes your way.
What it is
about Mary that most moves you to say yes to God's path for you?
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