The Birthday of Mary, the Mother of the Son of God

Today we celebrate the birth of Mary, the Mother of the Son of God, who assumed human nature through Mary in order to bring about our redemption, that is to save us from the power of Satan, who alluringly tricked Adam and Eve into disobedience and to this very day prowls throughout the world deceiving people into choosing their will above God’s will.  Just as Adam and Eve did not pass the test of free will neither do you and I. Without grace, we fall into sin over and over and over again! Our salvation? Jesus Christ born of Mary.

Mary was born free of original sin.  She, alone of all human beings other than the Incarnate Son of God, never fell into the pit Satan sets for each one of us: the pit of choosing our own wills over the will of our Creator. Mary, perfectly, followed the will of God in every circumstance of her life, saying “yes” to God over and over again. Her obedience to the will of God is exemplified so clearly for us in the Annunciation when the angel Gabriel was sent to Mary to communicate God’s will to her. Gabriel greets her as one who has found favor with God and tells her that she has been chosen “’to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob forever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel: ‘But how can this come about, since I have no knowledge of man?’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow.’ And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God…[Y]our cousin Elizabeth also, in her old age, has conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ Mary said, ‘You see before you the Lord’s servant, let it happen to me as you have said’”  (Luke 1: 312-38). 

Mary was 14 or 15 when the angel announced that she would be impregnated through the power of the Holy Spirit and conceive a son. Mary was betrothed to Joseph and not yet married. Conceiving out of wedlock, in her culture, meant that she faced the possibility of being stoned to death. She still said “yes” to God’s will for her.

When we are confronted with the possibility of very unpleasant consequences to following the path God asks us to traverse, what is our response?  Is our faith and trust in God as strong as Mary’s?  If not, let us call upon Mary to secure for us the graces we need to say “yes” to God in any circumstance, willing to pay whatever price is demanded of us!  God is there for us as truly as God was there for Mary and worked everything out for her even to the resurrection of her Son on Easter morn, rising  seeing her Son  triumphantly over death in accord with the Father’s will.