Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Saturday, September 8, 2018 Birth of Mary 1st Reading: Mic 5:1-4 or Rom 8:28-30 Gospel: Matthew 1:1-16,18-23 or 1:18-23

This is how Jesus Christ was born. Mary his mother had been given to Joseph in marriage but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.

While he was pondering over this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a son. You shall call him ‘Jesus’ for he will save his people from their sins.” (…)

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life Experience)

The birth of Mary is a great message to this generation about life and about motherhood. This generation needs this great message because a growing number of women today see motherhood as a burden, not a blessing. The mania for attractive vital statistics and carnal pursuits has eclipsed the true nature of procreation as a God-given mission. Pregnancy is treated as a distortion while giving birth to a child a scourge more than a participation in God’s power to create.

The participation in God’s power to create comes to us as a gift of procreation. Love is at the core of this procreative act. When love is stripped of the spirit of sacrifice, love deserts life. Philosophy distinguishes soul from spirit. All animate things including plants and animals have souls that keep them alive. But only human beings have spirits capable of eternal life. In a sense, love has to be animated by a spirit if it is to be intimately related to life. That spirit is the spirit of sacrifice. Stripped of the spirit of sacrifice, love ceases to be human and descends to the realm of the animals.

Selfishness strips love of the spirit of sacrifice. The woman only needs to accommodate the baby in her womb for nine (9) months. Beyond that the government could already put the baby up for adoption. Nine months of carrying a baby in the womb is not really that long compared to a lifetime of possibilities the baby gets. To a selfish woman, however, nine months of carrying a baby in the womb is already too long a period of sacrifice.

Mary had more reasons to decline pregnancy because her conception of Jesus was surrounded by circumstances so scary to an ordinary woman. It was her big heart nourished by the spirit of sacrifice that empowered her to give her consent to pregnancy. May our generation give heed to her message of life and motherhood. Happy birthday, Mama Mary! —(Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.

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