PREDESTINED MOTHER.

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September 8, 2022.
Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Readings: Mi 5:1-4a or Rom 8:28-30; Ps 13:6ab, 6c; Mt 1:1-16, 18-23 or 1:18-23.

“Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.” Mt 1:16
A Congolese proverb says: “The day the monkey is destined to die, all the trees get slippery.” And an Ivorian proverb adds: “When a cock invites a cockroach for a birthday party, he has prepared dinner for himself.”
She was predestined to be mother of God. Therefore, her birth was itself part of God's plan of salvation. The Nativity of the Virgin Mary inaugurates the dawn of a new day, the aurora of salvation. Today is born unto us the one who will bear in her virginal wombs the Son of God, the Savior of mankind. 
No Scriptures passage, no prophetic announcement, but we believe that Mary’s birth was not a fiction. It can be proved. And not only so, her existence and life is real, historically proved, and factual.
Though not found in the Bible, this feast probably originated after the Council of Ephesus in 431, which established her right to the title of “Mother of God.” It was first mentioned in a hymn composed by Saint Romanus, an ecclesiastical lyrist of the Greek Church and adopted by the Roman Church in the 17th century. This feast beyond every thing, commemorates the birth of her who was chosen and prepared to be the Mother of the Savior. The Blessed Virgin, from God’s special action in her, occupies a unique place in salvation history. In her wombs, our good Lord reserved for himself a predestined dwelling. She was prepared by God for the highest mission the divine ever entrusted to mankind, to be Mother of God, the “Theotokos”. Here then, every Marian’s celebrations find their origin. Because she was destined to bear the Son of God.
The Catechism can emphasize our Marian celebration of today saying: “"All generations will call me blessed": "The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship." The Church rightly honors "the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of 'Mother of God,' to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs... This very special devotion ... differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration." The liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an "epitome of the whole Gospel," express this devotion to the Virgin Mary.” CCC 971
Celebrating the Nativity of Mary, the readings speak all of God's plan, and of predestination. The Prophet Micah, in the first reading announces the coming of the Savior from the smallest but not the least village of Bethlehem-Ephrathah. He announces that the salvation of Israel will happen when "the time when she who is to give birth has borne." This prophetic announcement will find its fulfillment in the childbearing of Mary and the birth of Jesus. Paul, in his letter to the Romans explicitly speaks of predestination. He says, "those (God) foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." For his mystery of salvation, God predestined for himself collaborators and instruments. Mary holds a privileged posture in this divine predestination.
The Gospel, giving the Genealogy of Jesus proves that predestination. From Abraham to David, from David to Joseph and Jesus, all has worked according to God's plan. And Mary, like few other elected woman will have a privileged role in this plan.
She is born to be the Mother of the Lord. As we celebrate her Nativity today, let us also think of our own birth. Why are we born? Why are you born? What for, in God's plan?



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