09-09-2015, 11:05 AM
TAKING OUR RIGHTFUL PLACE IN GOD’S PLAN
SCRIPTURE READINGS: MIC 5:1-4; ROM 8:28-30; MT 1:1-16. 18-23
The Church traditionally does not celebrate birthdays, especially in the liturgy. Rather, we celebrate death days, since death is a symbol of our baptism, as we are called to die in Christ. Hence, the commemoration of saints is always on the day they were martyred or died. Yet, we celebrate Christ’s birthday, which of course could be easily justified, since His birth is the beginning of our salvation. But why do we also celebrate Mary’s birthday and also that of John the Baptist? It has to do with the event of redemption. Just as Christ’s birthday marks the beginning of our salvation, so, too, by celebrating their birthdays we are celebrating their redemption.
The Church believes that Mary, who was sanctified at the moment of conception in the womb of Anne, was already saved by Christ by His pre-emptive death on the cross in time. In the case of John the Baptist, he was sanctified by Christ when he leapt for joy at the encounter between their mothers. Within this context we can appreciate the alternative scripture reading from St Paul’s letter to the Romans when he wrote, “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.”
Indeed, if we celebrate Mary’s birthday it is because the Church wants to underscore that the real life which we celebrate is our day of salvation. Greater than just having physical life is to have eternal life with Christ. For the same reason, most Catholics in European countries prefer to celebrate their baptismal day, or patron saint’s day, or name’s day, rather than their chronological birth date, as is celebrated by the secular world. Indeed, real life is eternal life, which is to share in the life of God. This life, unlike the physical life, will never die.
And what is even more wonderful is that this has been in the mind of God from all eternity. God from all eternity has not only chosen Mary but all of us to be true images of His Son. This plan was already announced by the Prophet Micah before the coming of Christ when he said, “The Lord says this: You (Bethlehem), Ephrathah, the least of the clans of Judah, out of you will be born for me the one who is to rule over Israel; his origin goes back to the distant past, to the days of old.” And when He comes, the prophet said, “He will stand and feed his flock with the power of the Lord, with the majesty of the name of his God. They will live secure, for from then on he will extend his power to the ends of the land. He himself will be peace.” Christ of course, in our estimation, is the realization of this promise made to the people of old.
So if we celebrate Mary’s birthday, it is because she is so closely associated with Christ’s work. In her own ways, she was responsible for helping to bring to realization the amazing and gracious plan of God. That is what the gospel affirms, “Now all this took place to fulfill 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’”. The one whom she is giving birth is not simply anyone but He is also our Saviour. As the Angel told Joseph, “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.”
Consequently, to celebrate Mary’s birthday is to celebrate God’s grace and His mercy. God is so selfless in love that He would condescend to take upon Himself the humanity of man and all our limitations in order to be in solidarity with us in everything except sin. This in itself calls for great thanksgiving. But of course the Incarnation was just the first step of the kenosis of God as it had to be carried to full term in the passion and death of our Lord. For what does it mean to be human? It is more than having a human body or even to suffer. To be human is to suffer all the pains that come with the state of being human, struggling to do God’s will and being willing to empty oneself even unto death. Hence, we celebrate Mary’s birthday only in the context of the birthday and the passion of our Lord.
Another motive for celebrating Mary’s birthday is to marvel at God’s choice in the work of redemption. The choice of Mary clearly shows that the way God works is so different from the way we work. He did not choose great people to be His collaborators. Rather He chose the poor and insignificant. As the prophet said, God will choose the Messiah from Ephrathah, the least of the clans of Judah. Above all, He chose Mary to be the mother of His only begotten Son.
Yet, celebrating Mary’s birthday is not merely to praise God alone. We cannot discount the cooperation of Mary with the grace of God. Whilst it is true that only God can save us, it is equally true that God would not want to save us without our cooperation. He wants us to give our personal response to His grace at work in us. So we also want to praise God for giving her the grace to respond to the invitation of the Angel to bear the Son of God in her womb.
We must not underestimate that the response to be the Mother of God was a decision taken lightly by Mary. Many of us tend to commit ourselves to someone or some project without thoroughly considering whether we can be faithful to our promises. This is particularly true in relationships, whether in friendship or in marriage. Many of us discover too late, that we cannot keep our promises. This same mistake also is made by good-will people, whether in Church or even at work and in business. At the point of time, it is possible that many made such commitments sincerely, but very few are able to live up to the pledges they made.
In the case of Mary, it must surely have taken her lots of prayer, faith and courage to make that commitment; unlike many of us who like to hold offices and positions in life and in society, but are irresponsible to the office we hold. We want the crown and the privileges but not the thorns and the sacrifices. For Mary, she only wanted to do God’s will and to do what was good for her people. She was conscious of the great sacrifices she would have to endure from the moment she said “yes”. The price of being the mother of the Saviour cost her her whole life, and untold pain in her heart. We read in today’s gospel how she, like her Son, was misunderstood by her loved ones, even her most intimate companion, Joseph, who wanted to put her away. She must have suffered tremendous pain, rejection, misunderstanding and even ridicule on account of her pregnancy. Who would believe her? Not even Joseph, if not for the intervention of the Angel. So responding to God’s call is not as easy as we think.
Yet we can learn from Mary, that if we abandon everything to God in faith, He will see us through as He did for Mary, Joseph and His Son. As St Paul says, “we know that by turning everything to their good God co-operates with all those who love him, with all those that he has called according to his purpose.” Yes, we must trust in the power of God and His fidelity to those who trust Him and are faithful to Him. Again St Paul wrote, “He called those he intended for this; those he called he justified, and with those he justified he shared his glory.” Such is the fidelity of God seen in the person of Christ.
So today, let us seek to be like Mary and Her Son. Every life given to us is meaningful and enriching only when we use that very life with all the blessings and even handicaps that God gives to us for the service of the people of God. When we give life to people, we find life ourselves. So we cannot say that we are insignificant, ordinary people with no talents and therefore cannot do anything for anyone or cooperate with the plan of God’s salvation for humanity. Like Mary, we just have to say “yes” when we are called and chosen by Him through prayer and discernment. So, to celebrate the birthday of someone is more than a commemoration of the person’s accidental presence in history, but someone who has deliberately chosen to align his or her life with the vocation that the Lord has given to him or her, in a way that serves life, heals people and empower them to be life-givers in Christ.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh
SCRIPTURE READINGS: MIC 5:1-4; ROM 8:28-30; MT 1:1-16. 18-23
The Church traditionally does not celebrate birthdays, especially in the liturgy. Rather, we celebrate death days, since death is a symbol of our baptism, as we are called to die in Christ. Hence, the commemoration of saints is always on the day they were martyred or died. Yet, we celebrate Christ’s birthday, which of course could be easily justified, since His birth is the beginning of our salvation. But why do we also celebrate Mary’s birthday and also that of John the Baptist? It has to do with the event of redemption. Just as Christ’s birthday marks the beginning of our salvation, so, too, by celebrating their birthdays we are celebrating their redemption.
The Church believes that Mary, who was sanctified at the moment of conception in the womb of Anne, was already saved by Christ by His pre-emptive death on the cross in time. In the case of John the Baptist, he was sanctified by Christ when he leapt for joy at the encounter between their mothers. Within this context we can appreciate the alternative scripture reading from St Paul’s letter to the Romans when he wrote, “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.”
Indeed, if we celebrate Mary’s birthday it is because the Church wants to underscore that the real life which we celebrate is our day of salvation. Greater than just having physical life is to have eternal life with Christ. For the same reason, most Catholics in European countries prefer to celebrate their baptismal day, or patron saint’s day, or name’s day, rather than their chronological birth date, as is celebrated by the secular world. Indeed, real life is eternal life, which is to share in the life of God. This life, unlike the physical life, will never die.
And what is even more wonderful is that this has been in the mind of God from all eternity. God from all eternity has not only chosen Mary but all of us to be true images of His Son. This plan was already announced by the Prophet Micah before the coming of Christ when he said, “The Lord says this: You (Bethlehem), Ephrathah, the least of the clans of Judah, out of you will be born for me the one who is to rule over Israel; his origin goes back to the distant past, to the days of old.” And when He comes, the prophet said, “He will stand and feed his flock with the power of the Lord, with the majesty of the name of his God. They will live secure, for from then on he will extend his power to the ends of the land. He himself will be peace.” Christ of course, in our estimation, is the realization of this promise made to the people of old.
So if we celebrate Mary’s birthday, it is because she is so closely associated with Christ’s work. In her own ways, she was responsible for helping to bring to realization the amazing and gracious plan of God. That is what the gospel affirms, “Now all this took place to fulfill 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’”. The one whom she is giving birth is not simply anyone but He is also our Saviour. As the Angel told Joseph, “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.”
Consequently, to celebrate Mary’s birthday is to celebrate God’s grace and His mercy. God is so selfless in love that He would condescend to take upon Himself the humanity of man and all our limitations in order to be in solidarity with us in everything except sin. This in itself calls for great thanksgiving. But of course the Incarnation was just the first step of the kenosis of God as it had to be carried to full term in the passion and death of our Lord. For what does it mean to be human? It is more than having a human body or even to suffer. To be human is to suffer all the pains that come with the state of being human, struggling to do God’s will and being willing to empty oneself even unto death. Hence, we celebrate Mary’s birthday only in the context of the birthday and the passion of our Lord.
Another motive for celebrating Mary’s birthday is to marvel at God’s choice in the work of redemption. The choice of Mary clearly shows that the way God works is so different from the way we work. He did not choose great people to be His collaborators. Rather He chose the poor and insignificant. As the prophet said, God will choose the Messiah from Ephrathah, the least of the clans of Judah. Above all, He chose Mary to be the mother of His only begotten Son.
Yet, celebrating Mary’s birthday is not merely to praise God alone. We cannot discount the cooperation of Mary with the grace of God. Whilst it is true that only God can save us, it is equally true that God would not want to save us without our cooperation. He wants us to give our personal response to His grace at work in us. So we also want to praise God for giving her the grace to respond to the invitation of the Angel to bear the Son of God in her womb.
We must not underestimate that the response to be the Mother of God was a decision taken lightly by Mary. Many of us tend to commit ourselves to someone or some project without thoroughly considering whether we can be faithful to our promises. This is particularly true in relationships, whether in friendship or in marriage. Many of us discover too late, that we cannot keep our promises. This same mistake also is made by good-will people, whether in Church or even at work and in business. At the point of time, it is possible that many made such commitments sincerely, but very few are able to live up to the pledges they made.
In the case of Mary, it must surely have taken her lots of prayer, faith and courage to make that commitment; unlike many of us who like to hold offices and positions in life and in society, but are irresponsible to the office we hold. We want the crown and the privileges but not the thorns and the sacrifices. For Mary, she only wanted to do God’s will and to do what was good for her people. She was conscious of the great sacrifices she would have to endure from the moment she said “yes”. The price of being the mother of the Saviour cost her her whole life, and untold pain in her heart. We read in today’s gospel how she, like her Son, was misunderstood by her loved ones, even her most intimate companion, Joseph, who wanted to put her away. She must have suffered tremendous pain, rejection, misunderstanding and even ridicule on account of her pregnancy. Who would believe her? Not even Joseph, if not for the intervention of the Angel. So responding to God’s call is not as easy as we think.
Yet we can learn from Mary, that if we abandon everything to God in faith, He will see us through as He did for Mary, Joseph and His Son. As St Paul says, “we know that by turning everything to their good God co-operates with all those who love him, with all those that he has called according to his purpose.” Yes, we must trust in the power of God and His fidelity to those who trust Him and are faithful to Him. Again St Paul wrote, “He called those he intended for this; those he called he justified, and with those he justified he shared his glory.” Such is the fidelity of God seen in the person of Christ.
So today, let us seek to be like Mary and Her Son. Every life given to us is meaningful and enriching only when we use that very life with all the blessings and even handicaps that God gives to us for the service of the people of God. When we give life to people, we find life ourselves. So we cannot say that we are insignificant, ordinary people with no talents and therefore cannot do anything for anyone or cooperate with the plan of God’s salvation for humanity. Like Mary, we just have to say “yes” when we are called and chosen by Him through prayer and discernment. So, to celebrate the birthday of someone is more than a commemoration of the person’s accidental presence in history, but someone who has deliberately chosen to align his or her life with the vocation that the Lord has given to him or her, in a way that serves life, heals people and empower them to be life-givers in Christ.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh