Nativity of Mary: the ‘origin of every feast’

As with all celebrations of the Blessed Virgin, today’s Nativity of Mary ultimately refers to Christ.

The birthday of Our Lady heralds the coming of Our Redeemer. We rejoice at Mary’s arrival in the world because she is the Lord’s chosen who will be the Mother of Christ.

With her birth, salvation history takes a momentous step forward: the birth of her Son draws ever closer. The one from whom the Eternal Word will take His flesh, is now here. God is working out His plan of redemption!

From Dom Gueranger’s Liturgical Year:

Andrew of Crete calls this day a solemnity of entrance, a feast of beginning, whose end is the union of the Word with our flesh; a virginal feast, full of joy and confidence for all.

‘All ye nations, come hither,’ cries St. John Damascene, ‘come every race and every tongue, every age and every dignity, let us joyfully celebrate the birthday of the world’s gladness.’

‘It is the beginning of salvation, the origin of every feast,’ says St. Peter Damian, ‘for behold! The Mother of the Bridegroom is born. With good reason does the whole world rejoice today; and the Church, beside herself, bids her choirs sing wedding songs.’

— Vol. XIV, pp. 148-49.

Engaging the Gospel – Ascension of the Lord

Ascension of the Lord (Year B): Gospel – Mark 16:15-20

Jesus’ Ascension into heaven is rich in meaning on multiple levels. With His enthronement in divine glory, Christ ushers in His kingdom, exercises His eternal priesthood by interceding for us, and opens the path to heaven for us, revealing our own future in eternity (Catechism paragraphs 659-667).

The Ascension into heaven is an “historical and transcendent event” whereby Jesus returns to the Father from whom He came, and is seated at His right hand (660).

As St. John Damascene explains,

By the ‘Father’s right hand,’ we understand the glory and honor of divinity, where He who exists as Son of God before all ages, indeed as God, of one being with the Father, is seated bodily after He became incarnate and His flesh was glorified.

— quoted in 663.

Benedict XVI helps us to understand the deeper meaning of heaven, beyond the idea of a location on the cosmic map:

Heaven is “the contact of the being ‘man’ with the being ‘God,’” or our “place, so to speak, inside God’s own being.”

As a result, we cannot possibly enter into the divine life on our own. Heaven is the ultimate gift that we can only receive, thanks to the “confluence of God and man” brought about by Christ.

For this reason, “heaven is always more than a private, individual destiny,” but is “necessarily connected” with Christ and therefore with our brothers and sisters (Credo for Today, pp. 92-94).

This is why Christ commands us to proclaim the Gospel before He ascends to the Father: we have been given such a great gift that we must share it.

“The ultimate purpose” of this missionary mandate is

none other than to make men share in the communion between the Father and the Son in their Spirit of love…It is from God’s love for all men that the Church in every age receives both the obligation and the vigor of her missionary dynamism.

— Catechism 850-51.

Question for reflection: What opportunities do I have to share my Catholic faith?

Simplicity of Prayer

Do we sometimes complicate prayer, thinking that unless we’re reciting traditional formulas, we’re not “really” praying? But in truth, prayer is beautifully simple, as easy and natural as speaking with our family and friends.

For prayer is our conversing with God, as our prayer partners – the saints – have described it.

“Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God, or the requesting of good things from God,” St. John Damascene teaches us (quoted in Catechism paragraph 2559).

St. Teresa of Avila emphasizes the intimacy of our relationship with God, viewing prayer as “nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him Who we know loves us” (quoted in 2709).

St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower, reminds us that prayer doesn’t even require words: “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy” (quoted in 2558).

While our learned prayers and devotions offer us wonderful ways of engaging the Lord, let us also cultivate the habit of turning to Him throughout the day, whether to thank Him for a particular blessing, ask for His help in difficulty, or tell Him hello, just because.

Parents can encourage children to do likewise, and in the evening, family members may share one aspect of their prayer that day.