Project BLACK MAMBA

'Tis the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (circa 15 B.C.): Madonna-link ūna, Madonna-link duae, & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

There are only three [persons] whose birthdays have traditionally been celebrated by Christians: Jesus Christ, at Christmas [25 December]; Saint John the Baptist [24 June]; & the Blessed Virgin Mary. And we celebrate all three birthdays for the same reason: All three were born without Original Sin. Christ, because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit; Mary, because she was kept free from the stain of Original Sin by the action of God in His foreknowledge that she would agree to be the mother of Christ; & Saint John, because he was blessed in the womb by the presence of his Savior when Mary, pregnant with Jesus, came to aid her cousin [St.] Elizabeth [5 November] in the final months of Elizabeth's pregnancy (an event we celebrate in the Feast of the Visitation [31 May]).

'Tis also the festival of Saint Sergius I, Pope (circa 650-701), eighty-fourth Bishop of Rome: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Adam Bargielski, Priest & Martyr (1903-1942), martyred in the reign of the Führer Adolf Hitler, one of the One Hundred Eight Martyrs of World War II: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link CVIII.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Book of Micah, chapter five, verses one thru four(a);
or, the Letter to the Romans, chapter eight, verses twenty-eight, twenty-nine, & thirty;
Psalm Thirteen, verse six(a,b) & six(c);
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter one, verses one thru sixteen & eighteen thru twenty-three
(or, the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter one, verses eighteen thru twenty-three).

Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, today as we celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary the Church gives us the very beginning of St. Matthew's Gospel. It is desperately important for Matthew to show that Jesus doesn't just appear out of the blue. Rather, he comes out of a rich, densely-textured history. St. Irenaeus tells us that the Incarnation had been taking place over a long period of time, God gradually accustoming himself to the human race.

Look at this long line of characters: saints, sinners, cheats, murderers, poets, kings, insiders and outsiders—all leading to the Christ. Of course King David is mentioned. He is, without doubt, a great figure, the king who unites the nation, defeats its enemies and establishes the first Israelite empire. But he is also, we know, an adulterer and a murderer, the one who abuses his power in order to eliminate Uriah the Hittite.

And finally the climactic entry that notes the virgin whose birthday we celebrate today: "Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah."

Video reflection by Father Jonathan W. Felux: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Bible Study—The Bible Timeline: Divided Kingdom, Part 2 of 2
The Book of Deuteronomy, chapter thirty, verses fifteen thru twenty;
The Second Book of Chronicles, chapter eleven (verses one thru twenty-three);
The Second Book of Chronicles, chapter twelve (verses one thru sixteen);
The Book of Jeremiah, chapter twenty-five, verses one thru fourteen;
The Book of Jeremiah, chapter twenty-nine, verses ten thru fourteen;
The Book of Jeremiah, chapter thirty-one, verses thirty-one thru thirty-four.

Commentary: The Choice before Israel (Deuteronomy, 30:15-20); II. The Monarchy before Hezekiah: Division of the Kingdom (2 Chronicles, 11:1-4), Rehoboam's Works (11:5-12), Refugees from the North (11:13-17), Rehoboam's Family (11:18-23), & His Apostasy (12:1-16); & Seventy Years of Exile (Jeremiah, 25:1-14), Letter to the Exiles in Babylon (29:10-14), & the New Covenant (31:31-34).