Happy Birthday Mary & Thank You :)

Born: Date unknown; traditionally celebrated September 8

Birth of Jesus Foretold

^“26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin betrothed^[b] to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”^[c] 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰ And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”-Luke 1: 26

I have always had a special affinity for Mary.  And although I realize that different Christian Churches see her differently, I personally have always been so grateful to her for her example, for her love and for her willingness to do all that God asked. No matter the price. And Her willingness to pray for us! I wish I could say that I did all of that every day, but mine is a poor attempt compared to Mary’s.

Sadly, there seems to be some controversy about praying the Rosary or asking Mary to intercede for us. Instead, perhaps we should take a moment and remember that we are simply asking Mary to pray for us! And why would’t we do so, when our Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit love her so much? 🙂

The truth is God gave Mary a choice!  And where would we be if Mary said no? God knew this choice would bring great suffering.  How God must have loved her to allow her the choice!  Mary CHOSE to be Christ’s Mother-how she must have loved God!

And I think often of how young she was!  I didn’t even know who I was at that age.  How frightened she must have been, but she kept on following God’s Will for her.  How faithful she must have been, to have that kind of strength and courage.  And how much she must have loved God and her Son.

Mary is an incredible mother.  Loving Him, Raising Him, Encouraging Him, and Standing at the foot of His Cross!  I would never have had the strength to do all that.  Would any of us?  When Jesus suffered; how she must have suffered to! How Jesus must love her and how she must love Him!

And Jesus did love her so. Even as He suffered on the Cross, Jesus made sure His Mother was taken care of:

“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” –John 19:26-27 ESV

How He must have loved her to think of her future as he hung suffering on that Cross! And how grateful she must have been to know that He saw her :).

Mary’s Beloved Son suffered so.  And yet instead of panicking or weakening, she lent Him her quiet strength and surrounded Him with her love. 

When God chose Mary to be Christ’s Mother, He chose well ?