Homily on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 8 September 2023
Today is a big feast in the Church, for today, exactly nine months after the solemn feast of the Virgin Mary’s Immaculate Conception, we celebrated the feast of her Nativity.
According to tradition, Mary’s parents, Joachim and Anne, who had been childless for many years, received a heavenly message that they would soon have a child. When the baby Mary was born in accordance with that message, they were so filled with joy and humble gratitude for the gift of their daughter that they brought her to the Temple in Jerusalem to dedicate her totally to God. And so, by God’s grace, the child Mary grew up, single-minded and single-hearted in serving the Lord, knowing that her life belonged totally to God alone.
I believe it was in this context that on the day of the annunciation, the God-sent angel Gabriel greeted the young Virgin Mary, using the words “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” For indeed this adorable girl has truly been flawless in beauty inside-out. She was simply and amazingly beautiful in God’s eyes. Even before St. Joseph, the carpenter, could set his eyes on her, God has already been gazing at her with love, joy, wonder and amazement. And even before Joseph could take Mary as his wife, God has already taken her and set her apart, not to be the mother of Joseph’s son, but to be his own mother. God has singled out Mary among millions of women to be the Mother of God, a title only she enjoyed.
Surprisingly even Muslims have a special place for Mary in their own Sacred Scriptures. In fact I recently discovered that the birth of Mary is narrated in the third chapter of the Koran with references to her father Imran as well as her mother Hannah. According to the text, Hannah prayed to God that her desire to have a child may be fulfilled. And she went as far as making a vow that if her prayer is granted her child, whom she initially thought would be a boy, will be dedicated to the service of God. Furthermore, she prayed that her child would remain protected from Satan’s power. Because of this most Muslims believe in the Immaculate Conception of Mary, in as much as mainstream schools of Islamic thought teach that there are only two children born in this world without the “touch of Satan” namely, Mary and Jesus.
Brothers and sisters we too like Mary enjoy the favour of God, even if we were born with sin. Every day he looks at us with joy, wonder and amazement for we too had been totally dedicated to him when we were first baptized as Christians. That day when the baptismal waters cleansed us from our sins, we were also reborn to a new life, as God’s children; and God claimed us to be his own beloved sons and daughters in his Son Jesus Christ. And so we can say that from the very day of our baptism we already belong to God totally; we were already consecrated to him by our own baptism.
Today thirty-three (33) years ago my elder sister, wearing a crown of roses, made her perpetual profession in the eternal city of Rome as a Salesian Sister and a Daughter of Mary Help of Christians. On his part, God did not hesitate to accept the total offering of her life for the welfare of poor youth. And so 40 days later on October 18 Sr Adelinda, FMA, passed away in the year 1990, with cerebral aneurism as the cause of her untimely death. May God bless her soul and grant her eternal joy in the company of our Blessed Mother, whom she tried to love and serve with all her heart.
As a gift to honor our Blessed Mother, may we in the Holy Mass grab the opportunity to renew the total offering of our lives to the Lord, knowing well that we have already been dedicated to him since the day of our baptism. GiGsss!
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