OXYGEN

08 Sep – Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary announced joy and the approaching salvation of a lost world. Mary was brought into the world not like other children of Adam, infected with the contagion of sin, but pure, holy, beautiful, and glorious, adorned with all the most precious graces fitting for the one predestined to be the Mother of the Saviour. Never did she have the slightest inclination towards anything other than the absolute and immediate Will of God. She appeared indeed in the weak condition of all mortals, but in the eyes of Heaven she already transcended the highest seraphim in purity, humility, charity, and the richest ornaments of grace. God had created her in the original grace, as in the beginning Adam and Eve had enjoyed that ineffable privilege; after original sin, it was lost for all Adam’s posterity, until the time of the Redemption dawned in Mary. (Cf. I Cor. 15:21-23)

The nations celebrate, often too noisily, the birthdays of the great ones of this earth… How then ought we, Christians, to rejoice in that of the Virgin Mary, Mother of our Salvation, and to present publicly to God the homage of our best praises and thanksgiving for the great mercies He has shown in her, imploring her mediation with her Divine Son! Jesus of Nazareth will not reject the supplications of His most holy Mother, through whom He chose to descend from Heaven; she, the Spouse of the Canticle, is all beautiful and is the one He was pleased to obey while on earth. Her love, care, and tenderness for Him, the title and qualities which she bears, the charity and graces with which she is adorned, and the crown of glory with which she is honored, incline Him readily to receive her recommendations and petitions.

http://www.magnificat.ca/cal/engl/09-08.htm

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Micah 5:1-4a

But you (Bethlehem) Ephrathah, the least of the clans of Judah, from you will come for me a future ruler of Israel whose origins go back to the distant past, to the days of old. Hence Yahweh will abandon them only until she who is in labour gives birth, and then those who survive of his race will be reunited to the Israelites. 

He will take his stand and he will shepherd them with the power of Yahweh, with the majesty of the name of his God, and they will be secure, for his greatness will extend henceforth to the most distant parts of the country. 

He himself will be peace!

or

Romans 8:28-30

We know that by turning everything to their good, God co-operates with all those who love him, with all those he has called according to his purpose. They are the ones he chose specially long ago and intended to become true images of his Son, so that his Son might be the eldest of many brothers. He called those he intended for this; those he called he justified, and with those he justified he shared his glory.

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Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23

A genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham:
Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, Tamar being their mother,
Perez was the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram was the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon was the father of Boaz, Rahab being his mother,
Boaz was the father of Obed, Ruth being his mother,
Obed was the father of Jesse;
and Jesse was the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
Solomon was the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa,
Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Joram,
Joram the father of Azariah,
Azariah was the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah;
and Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers.
Then the deportation to Babylon took place.

After the deportation to Babylon:
Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud,
Abiud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
Azor was the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Achim,
Achim the father of Eliud,
Eliud was the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob;
and Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary;
of her was born Jesus who is called Christ.

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’

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Father, the birth of Christ your Son increased the virgin mother’s love for you. May his sharing in our human nature give us courage in our weakness, free us from our sins, and make our offering acceptable. (Prayer over the Gifts)

As we celebrate the birthday of our mother, and Jesus’ mother, Mary, I am drawn to think about what a party for her would be like if she lived in our time. Imagine celebrating her 50^th birthday. There would definitely be the cake with five large candles lit, and perhaps a picture of her and Jesus imprinted in colourful edible sugars on the cake. She would be surrounded by close friends and family. Because it is a big celebration, many others who have been touched by her words and actions in her lifetime would also be present.

So it is in this celebration. Whenever Mary is mentioned, her son is not far away in the picture, because he gives her life’s meaning and she gave him life. At Mass, we are surrounded by those who have been inspired by Mary, those who have been touched by her and who want to celebrate this happy occasion of her coming into the world.

Most importantly, a person’s birthday celebration indicates the fruitfulness his or her life brings to others. That is Mary’s role in the church: to point us to the fullness of life we can have in Christ just as she experienced through obedience to God. As we reflect on Mary’s faithfulness to the Lord, to her husband and to her child, let us strive to emulate her example of sacrificial love, tender patience and powerful perseverance.

(Today’s sharing by Melissa Chia)

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Prayer: We pray for all parents; may they follow in the steps of Mary as she lovingly brought up her child in accordance to God’s will. Amen.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to our Lord for the intercession of our mother, Mary. Her concern for humanity gives us a light in the darkness which shows the way to God.

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Upcoming readings:

Tue, 09 Sep – 1 Cor 6:1-11, Luke 6:12-19; St Peter Claver, religious, priest, missionary
Wed, 10 Sep – 1 Cor 7:25-31, Luke 6:20-26
Thu, 11 Sep – 1 Cor 8:1-7. 11-13, Luke 6:27-38
Friday, 12 Sep – 1 Cor 9:16-19. 22b-27, Luke 6:39-42; Holy Name of Mary
Saturday, 13 Sep – 1 Cor 10:14-22, Luke 6:43-49; St John Chrysostom, Bishop, doctor of the Church

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