Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Universally, guests invited to a birthday party love the one for whom the party is being given, but they don’t necessarily feel affection for one another. So it has been for the past 1400-plus years since Mary’s first birthday party.
The first revelers were the Byzantines, Copts, Armenians and other Churches from the East. A late arrival was the Church in Rome. On every October 8th each Church has tried to outdo herself in honoring the birth of the object of their common devotion, Mary, the Mother of God. And so is today.
And so what does this mean for us? Today is the day when we should spend some quiet time reminding the honored guest of this birthday party of her Son’s prayer before he underwent his Passion: “May they all be one, just as, Father, you are in me and I am in you.”
Today we might also reflect on the plight of those celebrating this birthday party long before we arrived – our fellow Christians in the East – who are suffering such persecution for the name of her son, Jesus. Would not an appreciated birthday present be to ask Mary to accept our prayers and join them with hers in their behalf?