Today, the Catholic Church celebrates the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The circumstances of the Virgin Mary’s infancy and early life are not directly recorded in
the Bible, but other documents and traditions describing the circumstances of her birth
are cited by some of the earliest Christian writers from the first centuries of the Church.
Scripture does not give an account of Mary’s birth. However, the
apocryphal Protoevangelium of James fills in the gap. This work has no historical value,
but it does reflect the development of Christian piety. According to this account, Anna
and Joachim are infertile but pray for a child. They receive the promise of a child who
will advance God’s plan of salvation for the world. Such a story, like many biblical
counterparts, stresses the special presence of God in Mary’s life from the beginning.
Joachim and Ann loved God very much, and they were filled with gratitude to God for
the gift of a child. They raised Mary as a child of God, teaching her to love and serve
God. When the angel Gabriel told Mary that she had been chosen to be the Mother of
Jesus, she already had great faith in God. Her strong faith and trust allowed her to say
yes to God’s plan for her. We cannot be certain what the future holds for any newborn
infant, but we do know that the life of each person has meaning and purpose. When
Mary was born, the world did not know who she was. Sometimes others—and maybe
even you—don’t see how special you are. Maybe you forget that God is calling you, too,
right now, to do what Mary did—to bring Jesus into the world.

We can see every human birth as a call for new hope in the world. The love of two
human beings has joined with God in his creative work. The loving parents have shown
hope in a world filled with travail. The new child has the potential to be a channel of
God’s love and peace to the world.

This is all true in a magnificent way in Mary. If Jesus is the perfect expression of God’s
love, Mary is the foreshadowing of that love. If Jesus has brought the fullness of
salvation, Mary is its dawning.

Birthday celebrations bring happiness to the celebrant as well as to family and friends.
Next to the birth of Jesus, Mary’s birth offers the greatest possible happiness to the
world. Each time we celebrate her birth, we can confidently hope for an increase of
peace in our hearts and in the world at large.

When we celebrate his mother’s birth, we honor Jesus too. Today thank God for the gift
of life, and give honor to both Mary and Jesus by showing respect and concern for one
another—remembering that God has created each person with love and with a call to
something very special in life.