Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.
But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Today our Church celebrates the Birth of the Virgin Mary. We rejoice that the Lord has wanted to enter our history, not only in Nazareth, but also in our own lives. To become aware of this, it is necessary to look back, stop and contemplate every moment lived: the joys, the illusions, the dreams, even the sorrows and pains; In this we can discover that it is God who has walked among us, it is Emmanuel, “God with us,” who has accompanied us day by day. By doing this exercise, we may be surprised to discover that this God of life has made himself present through so many men and women who, with their lives, have spoken to us about love and tenderness. This reminds us, through Mary, that Emmanuel is conceived through our gestures, actions and words and that others can experience God with our lives. Let God continue to be Emmanuel.
—Aldo Nehemías Hernández, SJ, is a Jesuit scholastic from the Mexican province studying philosophy and social sciences at ITESO, the Jesuit University of Guadalajara, Mexico.
Mary, I want to look at you and learn from you, from your docile heart, from your tender gaze, from your soft words, teach me to reveal the tenderness and closeness of God, of that God who wishes to walk with us. Amen.
—Aldo Nehemias Hernández, SJ
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