Why do the Scripture readings for the Feast of the Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary (Micah 5:1-4a or Romans Rom 8:28-30; Psalm13:6ab, 6c; Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23) hardly mention her? In these readings, Mary was mentioned toward the end of the Gospel reading, in Matthew 1:16 and 18-23. However, these verses are not about the birth of Mary but in regard to how Mary’s unplanned and virgin pregnancy troubled Joseph and how he resolve the issue and accepted Mary as his wife so that Mary could give birth to Jesus, the Son of God. And, the first option for the First Reading (Micah 5:1-4a) is also about an Old Testament prophecy of the birth of the Messiah, made during the pre-exilic period. Namely, the Gospel Reading (Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23) and the first option for the First Reading (Micah 5:1-4a) are about the birth of Mary’s Son, Jesus, but have nothing to do with the birth of Mary, which we celebrate today. As a matter of fact, these readings are also for Advent: as the text of Micah 5:1-4 is read for the 4th Sunday of Advent, Cycle C, and the text of Matthew 1:1-17 is read for Tuesday of the 3rd week of Advent, Cycle A.
So, we do we read about the birth of Jesus when we
celebrate the feast of the birth of Mary?
In order to reflect and ponder upon this question,
take a moment and imagine Mary without Jesus.
What would Mary be like if she had nothing to do
with Jesus?
Perhaps, we would never get to know her, as she
would have been one of these Jewish women of her time.
In fact, it was God the Father, who made Mary
special even before she was conceived.
Way back when Adam and Eve were evicted from Eden,
God had already predestined Mary to be the Theotokos,
the mother of God the Son, in figuratively warning Satan of his defeat by the
Son of God born of Mary (Genesis 3:15). And, Satan’s resist to this is
envisioned in Revelation 12 but his defeat in Revelation 19:1-20:10. Mary was
predestined to give birth to God the Son, the Messiah, so that not only her Son’s
blood can save us but the Son can defeat Satan, consummating the grand plan to
reverse the evolving effects of Original Sin committed by Eve and Adam, tempted
by Satan. As said in Jeremiah 1:5, God knows each of us even before God formed
us in our mothers’ wombs. In regard to Mary, God the Father had planned her to
be the mother of His Son to save us and to defeat Satan (Genesis 3:15), way
before Mary was conceived immaculately in the womb of her mother, Anna. Thus,
Mary has been intended to give birth to and to raise the Son of God. Therefore,
Mary would not be Mary as we know, without Jesus, who is God the Son, the
Messiah, and the victorious King, who defeats Satan.
The second option for the First Reading (Romans
8:28-30) reminds that God has destined all of His beloved for His will to be
done on earth as it is in heaven. And, we are His beloved, predestined in
accordance to God’s will. Not to mention, so is Mary. But, she is the most
favored one (Luke 1:30) among all of God’s beloved. So, she had been conceived
without any effects of Original Sin. Thus, God had willed her to be the
Immaculate Conception, completely free from stain of sin, preserving her from impacts
of Original Sin. This way, God the Logos can be incarnated in the human flesh
of Jesus without any problem of satin of sin, as his flesh comes from Mary’s.
Mary had to be conceived immaculately in the womb of Anna for God the Son to
have the unblemished flesh – so that he can offer up himself as the perfect Korban Pesakh (Exodus 12:1-28). And, John
the Baptist called him “Agnus Dei, qui
tolis peccata mundi”(John 1:29). The blood of God the Son is the saving blood
of Korban Pesakh (Exodus 12:13),
cleansing us to fit to be saints in heaven (Revelation 7:13-14), and is the
life of our souls (299, Diary of St. Maria Faustina). Without Mary’s flesh, God
the Son would not have the blood to shed to save us, wash, and to give life to
our soul.
So, now we know for sure that Mary was conceived
immaculately and born, as God’s most favored one among His beloved, for the
sole purpose to be the Theotokos , so
that God the Son, conceived in her womb and born of her, while she remained
virgin, can give us the precious blood that saves and washes us, while is the life
of our soul. This is why the Scripture readings
for her birthday are about the birth of her Son, Jesus, who is the Messiah and
the Lamb of God, the ultimate Paschal Lamb. And, Mary was predestined to be
this way as early as God was about to expel Adam, Eve, and Satan, from Eden.
For those who want to know how Mary was born and how
she grew up and met Joseph to be the mother of Jesus, you can read the Protoevangelium
of James, though it is not a canonized scripture. This can be paralleled to the
canonical Gospel texts of the birth of Jesus in Matthew and Luke, in addition to
learn about Mary’s birth and childhood. According to the Protoevangelium of
James, the parents of Mary, Joachim and Anna had grieved for being childless.
Anna was even hard to her maid servant, Judith, as she was grieving and angry
about being childless. But, her grief and anger were overcome when an angel of
God told, “Anna, Anna, the Lord has heard
your prayer, and you shall conceive, and shall bring forth; and your seed shall
be spoken of in all the world”( Protoevangelium of James, 4). To this, Anna
responded, saying, “As the Lord my God
lives, if I beget either male or female, I will bring it as a gift to the Lord
my God; and it shall minister to Him in holy things all the days of its life”
(ibid.). With this background of her
birth, Mary was brought to the Temple to be consecrated and dedicated to God,
being raised by the priests in the Temple. And, as a result of the priests’
prayers, she was introduced to Joseph – of course, to give birth to Jesus, as
written in the Gospel Reading to celebrate the birthday of Mary.
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