THE NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

“Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’” — Luke 1:38

Meditation

The Gospels tell us very little about the family or childhood of Mary, the mother of our Lord. Later Christian tradition names her parents as Joachim and Anne and tells of an elderly, childless couple who were finally blessed with a daughter whom they dedicated to God.

Those stories come from the Protevangelium of James, a second-century Christian writing, and not from Scripture. We cannot know with certainty how much of that tradition preserves actual history. What we do know is the kind of woman Mary became.

Mary was a daughter of Israel, raised among a people who remembered God’s covenant with Abraham and waited for the fulfillment of his promises. She would have grown up hearing the Scriptures and learning the stories of God’s faithfulness from generation to generation.

Then one day the angel Gabriel came to her with a calling she could never have expected.

Mary did not know everything that her answer would mean. She did not know all the sorrow she would eventually face, nor could she see the road that stretched from Nazareth to Bethlehem, Egypt, Jerusalem, and finally the foot of the cross.

Still, she said yes.

“Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

Faith like that usually does not appear overnight. Somewhere along the way, someone had taught Mary to trust God. Someone had told her the stories. Someone had prayed with her. Someone had helped form the faith that enabled this young woman to place her future into the hands of God.

On September 8, many Christians throughout the Anglican Communion celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We remember not only Mary’s birth, but the quiet ways in which God prepares people long before their purpose becomes visible.

The same is true in our own lives.

A parent teaches a child to pray. A grandparent tells the old Bible stories. A Sunday school teacher plants a seed. A priest, pastor, deacon, teacher, or friend speaks a word of encouragement. Often they never know what will grow from what they have planted.

Most of God’s work begins quietly.

We may never see the full influence our faith has upon another person. We may never know how a prayer, a lesson, a kind word, or a faithful example becomes part of someone else’s journey with God.

And sometimes we are the ones being prepared.

God may be shaping us today for a calling we cannot yet see. When that moment comes, may we have learned, as Mary had learned, that God can be trusted.

And may we have the courage to say:

“Let it be with me according to your word.”

Prayer

Gracious God, we give you thanks for Mary, the mother of our Lord, for her faith, courage, and willing obedience. We thank you for all those who helped form her faith, and for those who have helped form ours.

Help us to plant seeds of faith in the lives of others, even when we may never see the harvest. Prepare our hearts to hear your voice, and when you call us into places we do not fully understand, give us the courage to trust you and say yes.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Closing Thought

God often begins his greatest work quietly, preparing ordinary people long before they know where their faithful “yes” will lead.