God refuses only the person who does not admit his own weakness; ...The life of a soul who seeks true happiness clearly and indisputably depends on this: that those who seek their joy in God are the ones who give joy to God.
~~St. Raphael Kalinowski
God refuses only the person who does not admit his own weakness; ...The life of a soul who seeks true happiness clearly and indisputably depends on this: that those who seek their joy in God are the ones who give joy to God.
~~St. Raphael Kalinowski
Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Lectionary: 636
Reading 1 MI 5:1-4A
The LORD says:
You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah,
too small to be among the clans of Judah,
From you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel;
Whose origin is from of old,
from ancient times.
(Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time
when she who is to give birth has borne,
And the rest of his brethren shall return
to the children of Israel.)
He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock
by the strength of the LORD,
in the majestic name of the LORD, his God;
And they shall remain, for now his greatness
shall reach to the ends of the earth;
he shall be peace.
OR:
Rom 8:28-30
Brothers and sisters:
We know that all things work for good for those who love God,
who are called according to his purpose.
For those he foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the image of his Son,
so that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers.
And those he predestined he also called;
and those he called he also justified;
and those he justified he also glorified.
Responsorial Psalm 13:6AB, 6C
R. (Isaiah 61:10) With delight I rejoice in the Lord.
Though I trusted in your mercy,
let my heart rejoice in your salvation.
R. With delight I rejoice in the Lord.
Let me sing of the LORD, “He has been good to me.”
R. With delight I rejoice in the Lord.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, holy Virgin Mary, deserving of all praise;
from you rose the sun of Justice, Christ our God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel MT 1:1-16, 18-23 OR 1:18-23
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.”
OR:
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.”
***********************************
Trusting the Creativity of God in bad times
The reading from today’s second reading reminds us that all things work together for the good of those who love God. Even the bad things that happen to us will get put to good use if we entrust them to the creativity of our all-powerful, mercifully loving God.
The Jews who read or heard the recitation of Jesus’ genealogy in today’s Gospel reading saw this spiritual principle illustrated. The list of Christ’s ancestors demonstrated that the Messiah came from a long line of sinners. The point of this reading: Despite the errors of the people, God accomplished his salvation plans.
For example, everyone knew that Jacob tricked Essau into selling his birthright. If Jacob had behaved himself, Essau would have become the family’s patriarch and the genealogical line would have gone off in a different direction. But Jacob became one of the founding fathers of Judaism. From his line came Joseph, the husband of Mary. If Essau had become head of the family, would Joseph still have been the foster father of the Messiah?
God’s plans are always accomplished, eventually, one way or another. By putting God in charge of our lives, rather than taking matters into our own hands out of frustration and impatience, realizing that his timing is always perfect, and remembering that his plans are always good, we realize that we can and should have hope and joy, even while we suffer in the moment of today’s trials.
God has fun making good come from evil. I can picture him smirking at Satan and saying (like we did as children when we tricked the bullies), “Nah-nah, nah-nah-nah! You didn’t get your way after all. I’m bigger than you are!”
What mishaps have discouraged you? What sins have diverted your path from God’s plans? What problems have other people caused you? What mistakes have you made that you strongly wish had never happened?
Is God bigger than these? Does he care about you enough to make them useful for your growth? Does he want to make them work as blessings so that he can achieve another victory for his kingdom? Of course yes!
Is God imaginative enough to find a way to do what seems impossible? Of course yes!
So, why are you limiting your hopes to what only seems possible in your limited perspective? God enjoys doing the unexpected. He enjoys surprising us. And yet, we should not be surprised that he wants to turn bad times into blessings.
Consider what we celebrate today, September 8th. Mary was born without the effects of Original Sin so that she could later carry God in her totally human womb. If the Divine Father of Mary could do the impossible once for the sake of his salvation plan, he can do it again and again. And he wants to!
God makes all things work together for the good of those who love him and respond to his calling to serve his purposes. You have been called. Do not worry about things that go wrong, for God will develop awesome plans from them and despite them.
Today's Prayer
Thank You, my Lord, because You renew everything and You want to give me the opportunity to write a new and wonderful story for my life with you. Amen.
God Bless You.....
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