The Popish Plot
"Saints of September You Might Not Know, Part I"
'Tis the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (circa 15 B.C.).
Dear Jesus, today we celebrate the feast of the Birth of Your Mother Mary. Help me to imitate her so that my soul will glorify the Lord & my spirit will rejoice in God my Savior.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 (R/. the Book of Isaiah, chapter sixty-one, verse ten), verses 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: Daily Readings.
Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, today we celebrate the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And our Gospel declares that she will be the Mother of Jesus, who would be “God with us.”Video reflection by Father John M. McKenzie (U.S.C. of Catholic Bishops): Festal Reflection.
Mary is a rich and multivalent symbolic figure in all of the Gospels. In Luke’s infancy narrative, she emerges as the spokesperson for ancient Israel, speaking, in her Magnificat, in the words and cadences of Hannah.
In Matthew’s Christmas account, she is compelled to go into exile in Egypt and is then called back to her home, recapitulating thereby the journey of Israel from slavery to freedom. She is thus the symbolic embodiment of faithful and patient Israel, longing for deliverance.
In John’s Gospel, she is, above all, mother—the physical mother of Jesus and, through him, the mother of all who would come to new life in him. As mother of the Lord, she is, once again, Israel, that entire series of events and system of ideas from which Jesus emerged and in terms of which he alone becomes intelligible. Hans Urs von Balthasar commented in the same vein that Mary effectively awakened the messianic consciousness of Jesus through her recounting of the story of Israel to her son.
Video reflection by Doctor Tim Gray (Augustine Institute/Formed.org): Festal Reflection.
Audio reflection by Doctor John Bergsma (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Letters from Home.
Papal Quote o' the Day
"Mary, accepting the will of the Father, opens the path of salvation & makes it possible—through the presence of the Kingdom of God—for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Mary, proclaiming the faithfulness of God for all generations, assures the victory of the poor & the lowly."Saint Quote o' the Day
—Pope Saint John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, r. 1978-2005; feast: 22 October)
"Give Jesus a big smile each time your nothingness frightens you. Just keep the joy of Jesus as your strength—be happy & at peace, accept whatever He gives or takes with a big smile."Mother Teresa Quote o' the Day
—Saint Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. (1910-1997, feast: 5 September)
"It is in the silence of the heart that God speaks."
—Saint Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. (1910-1997, feast: 5 September)
"Conversion can also occur among those who already have the faith. Christians will become real Christians, with less façade & more foundation. Catastrophe will divide them from the world, force them to declare their basic loyalties; it will revive shepherds who shepherd rather than administrate, reverse the propostion of saints & scholars in favor of saints, create more reapers for the harvest, more pillars of fire for the lukewarm; it will make the rich see that real wealth is in the service of the needy; &, above all else, it will make the glory of Christ's Cross shine out in a love of the brethren for one another as true & loyal sons of God."
—Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
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