Saturday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time (September 8, 2018): Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today’s Readings:

Micah 5:1-4 or Romans 8:28-30
Psalm 13:6 (with Isaiah 61:10)
Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23 or 1:18-23
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/090818.cfm

USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/18_09_08.mp3

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke.

The Book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Abraham became the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah,
whose mother was Tamar.
Perez became the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab became the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz,
whose mother was Rahab.
Boaz became the father of Obed,
whose mother was Ruth.
Obed became the father of Jesse,
Jesse the father of David the king.

David became the father of Solomon,
whose mother had been the wife of Uriah.
Solomon became the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asaph.
Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Joram,
Joram the father of Uzziah.
Uzziah became the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah.
Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amos,
Amos the father of Josiah.
Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers
at the time of the Babylonian exile.

After the Babylonian exile,
Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel the father of Abiud.
Abiud became the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
Azor the father of Zadok.
Zadok became the father of Achim,
Achim the father of Eliud,
Eliud the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar became the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.

Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means “God is with us.”

Reflection for Saturday: A special request for the Blessed Mother

By Graciela Ramos, Director of Online Ministry

Every time there is a feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, what first comes to my mind is the word “silence”. Every supernatural event in the life of the Virgin Mary is surrounded by a profound silence on her part. Prayer and reflection were a permanent condition “in her heart”.

The word “contradiction” also comes to me. In verse 23 of this Saturday’s Gospel, we find this phrase: “The virgin will be pregnant and have a son …” The word ‘virgin’ and ‘pregnant’ sound opposite, but of course we are talking about the wife of the Holy Spirit. Anything can happen!

I really like to contemplate our Mother in every crucial situation in her life. The announcement of the angel, the birth of Christ, the adoration of the shepherds and magicians, the wedding at Cana, the Way of the Cross, the Cross itself. In all I admire her silence, her quiet dialogue with God in her heart. What fortitude! What confidence even in the midst of uncertainty and incomprehension!

Silence and prayer should be what characterizes a Christian in our world today. It is the silent listening of the Holy Spirit in our interior that will give us the temperance and strength necessary to live according to what our Lord taught. The challenges are many and anti-Christian messages invade us every day. Only in the silence of our spirit will the light of Christ be able to break through in the midst of the darkness that wants to confuse us.

On this day when we commemorate and celebrate the birth of our Mother, I would like to give her a special request to present to her Son:

Sweet Mother, I want to thank you on this day for your patient, motherly love. I want to thank you for your silent but powerful teaching, for your tireless intercession, for your daily company, for your effective help. I have not always responded to you with the love you deserve. Sometimes, I even turned away from you, because the wounds of life did not allow me to receive you in my heart. But you never let yourself be intimidated by my rejection. Jesus gave me to you and you welcomed me as your daughter and, as a real mother, you will never leave me. I know that one day I will see you and marvel at your beauty, but until that day comes I beg you: Do not ever leave me, Mother, do not let me turn away from your Son, Jesus.

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