You were not Created for Nothing (Birthday of Our Blessed Mother, September 8)

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Reflecting on the vision of a Franciscan nun called Venerable Mary of Agreda collected in a book titled “The Mystical City of God”, I quickly spotted some connection with the statement of St Paul above in Rom. 8:28 that “in everything, God works for good with those who love him…”. It is interesting to note, as the book attests, that Joachim and Anne (the parents of Mary) spent many years without a child. And when Mary was finally conceived, it was a nightmare for Anne. Giving birth to Mary was another round of bitterness and pains. Little did they know that God was working for their good, for the good of Mary and for the good of the entire humanity! God predestined that Mary should be brought forth into the world for the task of divine motherhood; and called her right from the moment of her existence for that exalted task of being a mother of God. 

He called her, a “WOMAN”, to be a channel through which He (God) would come into the world of a chauvinistic and male-dominated Jewish culture. This again goes a long way to prove to us that “GOD’S WAYS ARE NOT OUR WAYS; HIS THOUGHTS ARE NOT OUR THOUGHTS” (cf. Isa. 55:8-9). In the narration of the genealogy of Jesus (in today’s gospel passage – Matt. 1:1-16.18-23), the choice of women like Rahab, Ruth, Tamar and Bathsheba again clearly signals that GOD CAN WRITE STRAIGHT ON CROOKED LINES. First and foremost, they were women; and women, according to the Jews, were regarded as “THINGS” and thus, cannot and should not be featured in the ancestral list of any Jew. Secondly, they were not just women; they were women whose lifestyles and backgrounds were highly questionable: Rahab was a harlot of Jericho – cf. Joshua 2:1-7; Ruth was not even a Jew, she was a Moabitess, belonging to an alien and hated people of Moab – cf. Ruth 1:4; Tamar was a deliberate seducer and an adulteress – cf. Gen. 38:1-30; Bathsheba was a woman whom David seduced from Uriah with an unforgivable cruelty – cf. 2 Sam. 11:1-27. But at the end of the day, they all appeared on the ancestral list of not just an ordinary Jew, but a great Jew who was truly God and truly man, Jesus Christ.  

This is to prove to us again and again that GOD CAN USE WHAT THE WORLD CONSIDERS AS “NOBODY” TO SHOW THAT “EVERYBODY” IS VERY IMPORTANT TO HIM. The God who used Mary to be a channel through which He would come to the world, despite the male-dominated cultural inhibitions of the Jews, can as well use me for greater things no matter where the world has placed me. In every condition I may find myself, I WILL GREATLY REJOICE IN THE LORD because just like Mary, “THERE IS A PURPOSE FOR MY EXISTENCE IN THE WORLD; AND IT SHALL SURELY COME TO PASS.”    





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