THE NATIVITY OF THE VIRGIN MARY

THE NATIVITY OF MARY

On September 8^th, we will celebrate the Nativity of the Virgin Mary.

Every Marian feast is important in our Salesian tradition. 

The liturgy looks towards Mary from her communion with Jesus.

The Gospel shows us how God has prepared for a long time, for centuries, the incarnation of his Son. Because the Son of God became man, the Father prepared people from whom Jesus was born, and the last in this line is Mary.

But there is also Joseph and the Gospel precisely presents the annunciation made to Joseph.

To believe in the preparation of the incarnation of Jesus also means to believe in the necessity that God needs human beings so that his Son comes among us. Thus, God needed Mary, daughter of Joachim and Anne; He also needed Joseph, this righteous man. 

The nativity of Mary is like the beginning of our redemption because Mary is closest to the coming of Jesus.

Often, we meditate on the Angel's Annunciation to Mary and her response with entire consent to the word of God: "Be it done to me according to your word".   

Rarely do we meditate on the annunciation made to Joseph that the liturgy offers us on this feast of the Nativity of the Virgin.

However, the two annunciations, to Joseph and to Mary, such two reflected images of a single reality, are both equally important in making us understand what true faith should be.

In a way, the Gospel is a prophecy of what we have to live now and of what Christ promises us for the completion of our life and of human history.

So, what is the meaning of the annunciation made to Joseph? 

The Gospel according to Saint Matthew begins with a genealogy of Jesus. It ends with this mention: "Joseph, husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ".   

The evangelist then shows us how Joseph, a just man, that is to say a saint, faithful to God, obeying his word, dares to welcome this gift of grace which is the Virgin Mary and in her the child who has come of the Spirit, the Emmanuel announced by the prophets.

Joseph does not want to marry the Virgin Mary so as not to appropriate the child who lives in her and who comes from God. Joseph, the righteous, lives in respect for God and obedience. How would that child be his son, that child who is the Son conceived of the Holy Spirit?

For it is not we, human beings, who give birth to God. It is not we who create God in our image.  It is not we who give the Word of God.  It is not we who cause truth and justice to sprout from the earth: they come down from heaven. We always have to recognize the gift of God.

Joseph does not want to get his hands on what belongs to God and to God alone, on this sacred temple that is the Virgin Mary, on this abode of the glory of God still hidden in secret. This is why the angel answered him: “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary, your wife”. Certainly, the child who is begotten in her comes from the Holy Spirit. But she will give birth to a son to whom Joseph will give the name of Jesus. His mission is to welcome this gift and make it his own. Through Joseph, we also welcome Jesus, the Lord saves, Emmanuel, God-with-us.    

Joseph must therefore welcome Mary, he must accept this gift from God. From the child conceived of the Holy Spirit, Joseph is to make his son, the son of David, the son promised by the prophets of Israel and given to all mankind. He is also for us; we must also welcome the Son of God.

This is the meaning of the Annunciation to Joseph; this man carried in his heart the just faith which knows how to recognize the gift of God in Mary. By welcoming Mary, he welcomed the gift of God in Mary. By welcoming the Virgin, he welcomed the dwelling place of God among His people, Christ himself. We too must welcome the gift that God gives us of his Son.