Tuesday – Nativity of Our Blessed Mother

Gospel – Matthew1:1-16, 18-23

Mom Time

Mary’s Home, inside Basilica of Annunciation, Nazareth

Just last week, we celebrated my Mom’s 101st birthday.  Well, not so much ‘celebrated’.  I mean since I am here in Tennessee and she is in Southern Maryland and she is currently in a rehab center recovering from a fall – broken wrist and slight femur fracture.  And no, it was not from her celebrating! But we did send her cards and flowers. Through all the craziness, it was still an opportunity to give thanks for her long life and her life as our mother.  It certainly can’t have been easy “wrangling” the four of us but she more than managed it.  And so we celebrated not only her life as a mother but the life she had given us as her sons and daughters.

We celebrate another birthday today – the Nativity of Mary.  And we would do well to not only celebrate her birth but also her life as the Mother of our Savior, a life that paved the way for our new life as sons and daughters of the Father.  Matthew opens today’s Gospel with a long list of Jesus’ genealogy, tracing His roots all the way back to Abraham through the line of King David.  And at the end of such a long list of male names, we end the genealogy with one female – Mary, the Mother of Jesus!  That is no coincidence; it was through Abraham that the Jewish faith was instituted.  And it is through Jesus that our Christian faith, our life as brothers and sisters of Jesus, originated.

Birthdays are always a time of hope and thanksgiving.  Hope for the future, for many more days of celebration, hope for a long and productive life.  And thanksgiving – a chance to look back on a life well-lived, a life full of memories and blessings!

And so let us celebrate our Blessed Lady’s birthday today in the same vein.  Thanksgiving for all our blessings received, gratitude for Mary’s “YES” and her life of faith.  And hope – hope for blessings still to come and a life to share in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Feast of the Presentation Gospel – Luke 2:22-40 We Are Family Church of St. Joseph, Nazareth 5 extremely short stories to start the day! Once all the people in a village decided to pray for rain. On the day of prayer, all the people gathered, but only one boy came with an umbrella. That is faith. When you throw babies in the air, they laugh because they know you will catch them. That is trust. Every night we go to bed without any assurance of being alive the next morning, but we still set the alarm to wake up. That is hope. We plan big things for tomorrow in spite of zero knowledge of the future. That is confidence. We see the world suffering, but still, we get married and have children. That is love. Faith, hope, love, confidence and trust!   Sounds like a perfect list of values/virtues for a happy family! Today’s Gospel tells us of another family – the Holy Family going up to Jerusalem with the baby Jesus to present Him to the Lord in ...
Read more
Image
Sunday – Feast of Corpus Christi Gospel – Luke 9:11b-17 Loaves and Fishes Church at Tabgha Throughout those 2 years of isolation from Covid,   I really missed my St. Kateri community.   I missed my native brothers and sisters.   I miss crowding ourselves into the chapel on a Sunday morning for Mass.   And I miss our community potluck meal afterwards. I think that I missed that simple meal the most; it speaks volumes to me about the community and about the values that should define our lives.   I said a ‘simple’ meal but actually it’s more of a constant miracle.   Jody, our director, and/or Ginger provide the main course.   And that’s it!   All the rest – sides, salads, pasta, dessert, bread and drinks   - all of that is left to the community.   Bring something to share!   We never know how many people will come!   We never know what they will bring!   Ginger always calls it a “loaves and fishes” event! ...
Read more
Image
  Tuesday – St. Aloysius Gonzaga Gospel – Matthew 7:6, 12-14 Narrow Gate Old City, Jerusalem We celebrate today the Feast of St. Aloysius Gonzaga.   He was raised in a wealthy and powerful noble family in northern Italy in the 16 th century.   As a youth, he served as a page for King Philip and afterwards trained to be a soldier.   However that career path was cut short by kidney disease.   After he recovered, he gave up all his wealth and title and entered the Jesuit order at the age of 19.   When the plague broke out in Rome, he volunteered to care for the sick.   Unfortunately he fell victim to the disease and died a scant 4 months later at the age of 22. He could have easily kept his title and wealth; he could have enjoyed a comfortable easy life.   But instead he chose a different path, a path that was not only uncomfortable but extremely difficult and   challenging. In terms of today’s Gospel, Aloysius chose the ‘narr...
Read more