Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Tuesday of the 23rd week in ordinary time, September 8, 2026, Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Delivered by Heny Yap from Saint Peter's School Kelapa Gading, Jakarta Utara, in the Archdiocese of Jakarta, Indonesia. Romans 8: 28-30; Rs psalm 13: 6ab.6cd; Matthew 1: 1-16.18-23.A SPECIAL NATIVITY The theme for meditation today is: A Special Nativity.The Catholic Church celebrates today the feast of the nativity of Our BlessedMother, the Virgin Mary. This celebration has a long tradition on howChristians gave their respect and devotion to Mary. We who celebrate thistoday, want to ponder the mystery of her birth and to know the story line ofher families. At the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew, there is an accountabout Mary who gave birth to Jesus, and Joseph as the legal adoptive Father ofJesus, descended from the family of the King David. The very first reason we celebrate the Virgin Mary'sbirthday is because she is associated with Jesus Christ. It is reasonable andwell acceptable that if Jesus is indeed a glorious Lord, the Son of God and theRedeemer of mankind, then the mother who had conceived and had given birth toHim must also be noble and holy woman. If the birth of the Son of God, JesusChrist, has been greatly believed and remembered throughout the ages, then thebirth of His mother must also have the same honor and best memory from all thebelievers. There is another reason which is in relation with hervery particular gift from God, that the Virgin Mary is full of grace. If thefullness of grace had been established by God from the first moment of herconception, and therefore, Mary was immaculate from her mother Anna's womb,then the following stages such us during 9 months of life in the womb and thenthe actual birth itself, Mary was also full of grace. We celebrate the gloriousbirth of Our Lady today is to mark the continuation of giving honor to the Lordfor what had happened to Mary by the divine intervention, namely her conceptionthat was immaculate or free from the original sin. This special nativity of Mary indeed reminds us of anumber of special births as narrated in the scriptures. We mention just threeof them that happened before Mary herself. Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarahwho were already very old to have a child. God is understood to have make theoffsprings of mankind with a very special way. In the book of Judges chapter13, it tells the story of Samson who was born especially because God hadplanned to help the Israelites through the role that Samson would undertake.Then the prophet Isaiah confessed that he had been formed by God from the timehe was in his mother's womb (Is 49.5). These all illustrate that a specialbirth must be through God's work and with God's decisive will. For us Christians, our participation and being adoptedsons and daughters of God through the Lord Jesus Christ really make us special.This means that each of our birth into the world is also special. It isimpossible to think of a person born special and gifted with divine grace, buthe or she was not in connection with the Lord who is the source of all graces.We were actually born special, because God gave us also special calling foreach to be realized in life. Let'spray. In the name of the Father ... O most loving God, may with this specialfeast of the nativity of Virgin Mary, we will become more faithful children ofOur Lady following the example Jesus Christ, our Lord and savior. Glory to theFather and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit ... In the name of the Father ...