Sept 8th: The Feast of Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary
Three Questions answered: Q 1: Do Catholics worship Mary? Fact 1: Catholics don’t worship or adore Mary because we worship only God, and Mary is not God. Fact 2: We venerate her, honor her, and love her as Jesus’ mother and our Heavenly Mother.
Q 2: Why do Catholics venerate Mary? Mary herself gives the reason in her “Magnificat” recorded in Luke (1:48-49): 48: “For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. 49: The Mighty One has done great things for me, and Holy is his Name.”
1) God has honored Mary in four ways, and we honor her because God honored her:
a) He chose her as the mother of His Son, Jesus Christ the Messiah.
b) In preparation for this role, God made her “Full of grace” by her Immaculate Conception.
c) He anointed her twice with His Holy Spirit: at the Annunciation and at Pentecost, making her the most Spirit -filled of all women.
d) God allowed her to participate actively in Christ’s suffering and death, suffering in soul all Jesus suffered in body.
2) Mary is our Heavenly Mother, given to us by Jesus from the cross.
Mary is our role model for all virtues, particularly, love, fidelity, humility, obedience, surrender to the will of God, and patience.
Homily starter anecdote: Life magazine estimated that the prayer “Hail Mary” is said two billion times every day, and each year five to ten million people make a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Many others visit Marian sites elsewhere in the world. Mary is prayed to as advocate and helper, and even in the sports arena there is a reference to her power: the last desperate pass by a losing football team was once called a “Hail Mary pass.” Mary is also venerated by Muslims. It is reported that when the Prophet Muhammad cleared the idols out of the Kaaba in Mecca, he allowed only a fresco of the Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus to remain. In every Muslim mosque, the “mihrab” or prayer niche in the wall is dedicated to Mary. In the Qur’an, she is described as having been sent as “a mercy for the worlds.” (http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/days/features.php?id=15974)
History: As one of the oldest Marian solemnities, this feast is based on the second century (A.D. 175), apocryphal book Protoevagelium Jacobi (The Pre-Gospel of James), which reflects the traditions of the early Church, although it is not considered an inspired book. According to this book, Mary’s parents were Joachim and Anna. Mary was born either in Jerusalem or in Sephoris, three miles north of Bethlehem. The Annunciation is believed to have taken place later in the house of Mary’s parents. The feast originated in the fifth century in Syria or Palestine. St. Romanus of Syria is supposed to have brought it to Rome. The Roman Church adopted it in the 7th century and fixed it on September 8th. It is found in the 8th and 9th century Gregorian Sacramentary.
Importance: The feast is the birthday celebration of the mother of Jesus, our Heavenly Mother and the Mother of the Church. It is the birthday of an ordinary woman who was chosen to become the mother of an extraordinary Divine Child. The Church celebrates the death day of a saint as his/her feast day, considering it his/her “birthday in Heaven.” The three exceptions are Jesus’ birthday (Christmas), Mary’s birthday (September 8), and John the Baptist’s birthday (June 24). Mary’s birthday is celebrated because of her Immaculate Conception. John the Baptist, in Elizabeth’s womb, was filled with the Holy Spirit during Mary’s visitation of Elizabeth. We honor Mary because God has done great things for her (Luke 1:49), a) by choosing her as the mother of Jesus His Son, b) by filling her with His Holy Spirit twice, c) by making her the embodiment of all virtues (“full of grace”), and our Heavenly Mother and d) by allowing her to become the most active participant with Christ, her son, in our redemption.
Life Messages: 1) Let us, as Mary’s children, give a suitable birthday gift to our Heavenly Mother. Every mother wants her children to inherit and acquire all her good qualities. Hence, the best birthday gift to Mary is for us to become holy children of a Holy Mother, practicing her virtues of humility, total trust in God, unconditional surrender to the will of God and humble sharing of the agape love of our heavenly mother.
Additional homily resources
Homily texts: 1) https://www.vaticannews.va/en/liturgical-holidays/feast-of-the-nativity-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-.html
3) Franciscan Media:https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/nativity-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary/
4) Bishop Paolo: https://avosa.org/news/homily-of-bishop-paolo-for-the-nativity-of-mary
5) Fr. Abraham Mutholath’s Gospel interpretation of the day: https://bibleinterpretation.org/matthew-1_1-17/
Video homilies:
1) Fr. Warner D’Souza: https://youtu.be/EP09OPUmtio
2) Jesuit Adventure : https://youtu.be/_lOZOmdPbas
Fr Tony's Homilies 