Happy Birthday Mother Mary

Yesterday the Holy Roman Catholic Church celebrated the birthday of Mary, the Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Many ask the question, why should we celebrate Mary’s birthday?  I would like to respond in typical Trinidadian fashion, with another question; why shouldn’t we?

In many cultures including our own, we celebrate the lives of those who are important to us. When our spouse’s birthday comes around or that of our parents or children, we go to great lengths to show our appreciation for them. We buy them gifts, share a meal and dessert and the works. All of this is done because they are important to us; they play an important role in our lives; they are a blessing to us. So we show our appreciation of them on their birthdays.

Now let’s put this in the context of Mother Mary. Let us look at why Mother Mary is important to us and how she has contributed or can contribute to our spiritual well-being?

We all know that after the fall of Adam and Eve, sin entered the world and of the entire human race was set on a path to eternal damnation. But God didn’t give up on us; He had a plan.  Because of His infinite Mercy God could not leave us in the mess we were in. He had a plan to save mankind. He had a plan that involved sending his only Son, born of a Virgin into the world to take our place as the unblemished Lamb, the sacrificial Lamb of God to take away our sins. God had a plan to redeem the whole world; the entire human race by sending his Son born of a woman – Mother Mary.

Mother Mary was no robot that was programmed to carry out a particular task. She was not part of the i-robot fleet.  In other words, Mary could have said no to God’s plan, knowing fully well that her life could have been in danger for being pregnant outside of marriage. But she did not.  She said yes.

Now what are the results of Mother Mary’s “yes”?  Well she became the new Eve through whom Salvation entered the world. As a result of her saying yes to God, the entire human race – who did not have any chance of entering into Eternal Life – now have a way open to them through Christ Jesus, the fruit of Mary’s womb. Mother Mary brought hope into a hopeless world. Now if that is not enough reason to commemorate the birth of Mother Mary; if that is not enough reason to honor Mother Mary . . . well  . . . . .

Finally, we would normally give gifts to the birthday person, but sometimes gift giving can be a challenge as you won’t want to give something that you may have already given for previous birthdays. With Mother Mary, there is no challenge.  You can give her the same thing year after year and she will never complain; as long as what you give her is your heart. She will always take it to her Son Jesus.