🌅Today the Church celebrates the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Dawn who precedes the Sun of Justice, Christ Our Lord. Destined from eternity to be the Mother of God, she was conceived without sin and adorned with the most sublime virtues, becoming the purest reflection of divine holiness. If the birth of Saint John the Baptist is commemorated for his unique mission, with far greater reason is the day celebrated when the holiest of creatures and the chosen tabernacle for the Incarnation of the Word came into the world.
🎵 Introit (- | Ps 44:2)Hail, holy Mother, who didst bring forth the King who rules heaven and earth for ever and ever. Ps. My heart hath uttered a good word: I speak my works to the King. ℣. Glory be to the Father.
📜 Epistle (Prov 8:22-35)
A reading from the Book of Wisdom. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways, before he made any thing from the beginning. I was set up from eternity, and of old before the earth was made. The depths were not as yet, and I was already conceived, neither had the fountains of waters as yet sprung out. The mountains with their huge bulk had not as yet been established: before the hills I was brought forth. He had not yet made the earth, nor the rivers, nor the poles of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was present: when with a certain law and compass he enclosed the depths: when he established the sky above, and poised the fountains of waters: when he compassed the sea with its bounds, and set a law to the waters that they should not pass their limits: when he balanced the foundations of the earth; I was with him forming all things: and was delighted every day, playing before him at all times; playing in the world: and my delights were to be with the children of men. Now therefore, ye children, hear me: Blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth me, and that watcheth daily at my gates, and waiteth at the posts of my doors. He that shall find me, shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord.
📖 Gospel (Mt 1:1-16)
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begot Isaac. And Isaac begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Judas and his brethren. And Judas begot Phares and Zara of Thamar. And Phares begot Esrom. And Esrom begot Aram. And Aram begot Aminadab. And Aminadab begot Naasson. And Naasson begot Salmon. And Salmon begot Booz of Rahab. And Booz begot Obed of Ruth. And Obed begot Jesse. And Jesse begot David the king. And David the king begot Solomon, of her that had been the wife of Urias. And Solomon begot Roboam. And Roboam begot Abia. And Abia begot Asa. And Asa begot Josaphat. And Josaphat begot Joram. And Joram begot Ozias. And Ozias begot Joatham. And Joatham begot Achaz. And Achaz begot Ezechias. And Ezechias begot Manasses. And Manasses begot Amon. And Amon begot Josias. And Josias begot Jechonias and his brethren, in the transmigration of Babylon. And after the transmigration of Babylon, Jechonias begot Salathiel. And Salathiel begot Zorobabel. And Zorobabel begot Abiud. And Abiud begot Eliacim. And Eliacim begot Azor. And Azor begot Sadoc. And Sadoc begot Achim. And Achim begot Eliud. And Eliud begot Eleazar. And Eleazar begot Mathan. And Mathan begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
🤔 Reflections
🕊️The Wisdom that cries out, "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways," is applied by the Church to the Virgin Mary, established in the mind of God before all creation as the pure vessel for the Incarnation. Her birth is the inaugural act that makes the divine plan of salvation concrete. The genealogy of Matthew, in turn, is not a mere historical record but a theology of the Incarnation, demonstrating how Christ assumes all of human history, with its glories and miseries, to redeem it. Mary, at the apex of this lineage, is the meeting point where the heritage of David and Abraham encounters divine grace, allowing the Word to enter the human bloodstream without being stained by it. "The genealogy of the Lord, as narrated by the Evangelist Matthew, descends from Abraham to Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born. He did not want the husband to be separated from the wife... By enumerating his ancestors, it is shown that he belongs to the same people, thus bearing witness to the marriage." (St. Augustine, Sermon 51, 11).
↔️The Gospel of St. Luke offers a genealogy that complements Matthew's. While Matthew begins with Abraham and focuses on the royal line of David (through Solomon) to prove Jesus' legitimacy as the Messiah to a Jewish audience, Luke traces Jesus' lineage backward to Adam, "the son of God." This universalizes Christ's mission, presenting Him as the Savior of all humanity, not just Israel. Furthermore, Luke's infancy narrative details the Annunciation, the Visitation, and the Magnificat, events that reveal Mary's active cooperation in the plan of salvation, aspects omitted in Matthew's introduction.
✍️The writings of St. Paul theologically deepen the historical reality presented by Matthew. In Galatians 4:4, Paul states that "God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law," which perfectly echoes the genealogy: "born of a woman" refers to Mary as the source of Christ's humanity, and "born under the law" confirms the Jewish heritage that Matthew meticulously documents. In Romans 1:3, he reiterates that Christ "was made of the seed of David, according to the flesh," validating the central messianic title in Matthew's Gospel.
🇻🇦Church documents illuminate the profound meaning of the final verse of today's Gospel. The proclamation of Mary as Theotokos (Mother of God) at the Council of Ephesus (431) affirms that the person born of her is truly divine, making her maternity the greatest of all privileges. The Bull Ineffabilis Deus (1854), by defining the Immaculate Conception, explains how God prepared this "tabernacle": from the first instant of her existence, she was preserved from all stain of original sin, making her a worthy dwelling for the Son of God, the purest fruit of the lineage presented by St. Matthew.
🧠See English articles here.