Mary's Birthday

MSF Picnic 2010

We know that all things work for good for those who love God,
who are called according to his purpose.
For those he foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the image of his Son,
so that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers.
And those he predestined he also called;
and those he called he also justified;
and those he justified he also glorified.

I feel sad that the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus, has become a divisive issue in the Church. She is often militarized by Catholics and ignored by Protestants, although our quarrel is with one another and not with her. I am sure that, as any mother would, she feels sadness about our divisions; and her sadness is God’s sadness.

Nine months ago, on December 8, the Catholic Church celebrated the Immaculate Conception of Mary; so we celebrate her birth today. We celebrate her progress “from grace to grace” on a path that, hopefully, we are also walking. Saint Paul describes that path in this passage from his letter to the Corinthians: the predestined are called, justified and glorified. 

We have few details about the life of Mary. She is not the focus of the gospels. But it’s not hard to descry the major events of her life: she was born; visited by the Angel Gabriel; visited her kinswoman Elizabeth (who hailed her as “the mother of my Lord); gave birth to Jesus; moved with Joseph and Jesus first to Egypt and then to Nazareth; witnessed Jesus' passion and death; heard about (and perhaps witnessed) his resurrection; and received with Jesus’ reorganized disciples, the Holy Spirit. We Catholics also believe she was “assumed” into heaven at the end of her natural life, to enjoy the resurrection that is promised to all of us. 

Through all of these events – some joyous, some painful – she advanced from grace to grace. Like that of Jesus, the life of Mary is a kind of gospel. Hopefully, your story and mine will also be gospel stories, although we’re still on the journey toward Jerusalem. These gospels celebrate the salvation we have received from Jesus, through his death and resurrection. Each carries the cross assigned to each, and together we find strength in the spirit of Jesus. These gospels typically begin with a birthday -- either the day we were born or reborn – and narrate our development through many trials. Many of us have endured traumas; some have survived abuse; all have been misled at times; all have suffered betrayal, and all have enjoyed mercy.

Mary’s birthday, like Christmas, reminds us we are bound for glory, and deeply grateful for it.