Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Life of Vocation to the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary


Rom 8:28-30


“We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Cliché as it is, we are here in this seminary for a reason. We have all, in some way; felt a special call, not simply the universal call to holiness, but a unique one that at the same time triggers in us a conflict between our complete unworthiness for such an office, and yet an overwhelming gratitude to God who has seen fit to call us to serve in such a special way. And as I ponder my own vocation story, I see the many interventions, nuances, signs in my life which has given me affirmation to this calling. I am sure that you have sat in this chapel many a morning, mostly with eyes glazed over, but at times with an intense wonder of what God has in store in this vocation.


As you have heard from your formators, perhaps at times ad nauseum and responding back with glazed eyes, the root of the word “seminary” is “seed”. As God has seen fit to purposely “plant” us here in the seminary with a purpose; he “planted” Mary, immaculately conceived in St Anne’s womb, predestined with a purpose. As Mary was conceived and gestated in the womb for nine months, seminary formation also requires, for some, a gestation period of nine years. From conception to birth, something is growing and transforming inside: cells dividing and multiplying, tissues into organs, and organs into systems; We also start seminary as somewhat of a disordered mess of a human person (some more than others) and the process of formation develops us into integrated men, hopefully functioning and bonded into a united presbyterate. The Birth of Mary is obviously a significant milestone in her life, one that shows the fruition of nine months gestation. Likewise, ordination to the priesthood shows the fruition of formation, ready to serve the people of God. However a milestone, by definition does not only mark an end to something, but also a beginning to something else. As a man, though ontologically changed towards perfection, is by no means perfect as he is; but continues to grow to reflect that ontological reality.


Most importantly to the feast is that the birth of Mary marks one step closer to the coming of Christ and one step closer to the restoration of the fallen human condition. In my meditation upon why we celebrate the Birth of Mary, I have to admit I kinda got lost. I started to go into an infinite regression of celebration: if we celebrate the birth of Mary as being closer to the birth of Christ and salvation, why don’t we celebrate the birth of her parents, the birth of her grandparents, etc?! And similarly for the celebration of feasts: Christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve’s Eve; All Saints’ Day and All Hallow’s Eve, and All Hallow’s Eve’s Eve. Though I cannot speak for the other celebrations, I see that the celebration of Mary’s Birth is the celebration of the New Eve; as Christ is the New Adam, Mary the New Eve as foretold in Genesis 3:15. And so today we celebrate the Eve of Eve’s, marking the coming of Christ and redeeming mankind to his original self.


As the many titles for Mary go, their end is not Mary but Jesus; for she points to him who has raised her up. She is the “Star of the Sea” for sailors lost. For the sailors are not sailing towards the ever stable north star, but rather the star is the guide to navigate them to a safe harbor, a heavenly end. She is the “Morning Star”; the brightest star in the east, drawing our wonder and heralding the sunrise, an early type for Christ and the coming of a new day, a new beginning. And therefore Mary’s birth heralds the eminent coming of salvation and is the preeminent example for mankind in her fiat, an example for us to live life as she did, as a simple handmaid for the Lord.


Before we were in the womb, he knew us. And he has destined us by setting the course of events in our life. Our lives, like Mary, were set for a particular purpose. He gently calls us, not to force our hand (even if at times it seems that way), but he asks for our cooperation. It does not take a genius to realize that when we cooperate with God and work in his good graces, good things do indeed happen. We take joy and delight in serving the Lord in this particular vocation. Certainly at times it is difficult, like St Joseph. Faced in a difficult position, an angel comes to him in a dream and tells him to stay with Mary because she will bear the Son of God. When we serve the Lord in the way to which he has called us, we should have confidence in his providence and his goodness for we know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.


In this feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, be reminded that her birth came about through a gestation, a period of growth, and started from an act of Divine Intervention. And in our lives, through an act of Divine Intervention, we have been planted in this seminary for a period of growth and formation. That as Mary’s birth is the fruition of growth, our ordination to the priesthood is also a fruition of our formation and discernment. That her life and merit did not stop at just being born but continued onwards – her life was in complete imitation of the Love of God and always directed towards the glorification of her savior; that our lives may also be, like Mary and through her intercession, in complete imitation of our Love for him who has called us to call others to him, bringing him the greatest glory.