Monday, September 8, 2014 (The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

Monday September 8, 2014 

(The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary) 

Acts 13:44-52

On this day that the church pays tribute to the birth of Mary, the mother of the Lord, we may well wonder what this particular reading has with this particular event.

Paul and Barnabas have begun their missionary journey, bringing the good news of the gospel of Jesus to places in Asia, the Ancient Near East, and modern-day Europe.  They have met increasing crowds, who have listened intently, and have come back to hear more.

A theme familiar even today, is the jealousy, and apparent sabotage of some people with this life-changing message of new life and salvation brought by Paul.  On his part, Paul seems to have had the correct strategy of dealing with these nay-sayers: he proclaimed that they had had their chance to hear this good news, and, now, if they chose to ignore it, he would take that same message to those outside the Jewish faith.  And so he did.  And when the jealousy erupted into open persecution, Paul and Barnabas performed an act which was, of its day, a common symbol of rejection – they left the city and shook the dust off their feet.

While none of this speaks of the birth of Mary, one verse, verse 47, states, “For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth”, which, roughly, quotes what Simeon proclaimed of the infant Jesus, when Mary his mother, and Joseph presented him in the Temple at Jerusalem after his birth. 

There is a legend around Mary’s birth, involving an angelic annunciation, and a promise made by her aging parents.  In his book, “For All the Saints”, a compilation of saints days for the Anglican Church, by the late Stephen Reynolds, the author relates the legend, concluding with these words: “Such is the legend of the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and we continue to tell the story because it bears witness to a deeper truth of faith – that Mary herself was the daughter of Israel’s hope and the child whose own offspring would fulfill the longing of the whole family of creation.” 

[Stephen Reynolds, compiler, For All the Saints – Prayers and Readings for Saints’ Days – Anglican Book Centre, 1994.]

- Reverend Paul Kett