THE NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY (FEAST)

. . . Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 

Ah, a good genealogy—don’t we just love to read one of those? Actually, our natural reaction may be just the opposite as we look at the paragraphs of names of ancient men who “became the father of” other ancients, whose names we might not even recognize. But on today’s feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, this genealogy helps us to understand that Jesus was born into our world at a particular historical moment, to a specific, real family of people.

That’s one of the reasons why we celebrate Mary’s birthday. Yes, she holds a very special place in the history of Israel. She is, as Isaiah prophesied, “the virgin [who] shall be with child and bear a son,” the One who would be “God . . . with us” (Matthew 1:23; see Isaiah 7:14). But Mary is not just the grand fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. She is not just the esteemed mother of the long-awaited Messiah. She is a real person, someone we can relate to, with a birthday like any one of us.

That truth helps us understand not only Mary but also her son. Jesus is the second Person of the Trinity and Emmanuel, God with us. But by virtue of his mother, he is also God like us. He is fully human, just like his mother and all those ancestors. Just like us. He, too, was born—to a woman in the ancient Middle East. As a man, he walked the earth and experienced all of the triumphs and temptations, all the joys and sorrows that are common to each one of us. By becoming man, he not only made us partakers in his divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), but he also showed us how to live a fully human life as a child of God in the real world.

As we honor Mary’s birth, we give glory to God, who sent his son Jesus into our world to be like us in all things but sin. So go ahead! Celebrate your heavenly mother’s birthday today!

“Jesus, I want to praise you and honor your mother today.”

Micah 5:1-4
Psalm 13:6d
Matthew 1:1-16, 18-2