Homily | 8 September 2025 - Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

HOMILY ON THE FEAST OF THE BIRTHDAY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
08:09:2025
READINGS: Micah 5:1-4; Psalm 13:6-7; Matthew 1:1-16,18-23.

Dear brothers in Christ, Carissimi Fratelli in Cristo,

In the name of God and our Holy Father, St. Augustine, I thank our Prior General, Most Rev. Fr.
Alejandro Moral Anton, OSA and the members of the general council for giving me the rare privilege
and extending an invitation to me at the far away Nigeria to preside, and to give a homily to this
great assembly, chapter definitors. I am happy to visit Rome again and to meet with over 88 friars
from different nations and circumscriptions of our Order. May our Lady, Mother of Good Counsel,
teach us all during the remaining days and weeks of discussions and
deliberations.

What a joy it is to gather with you, brothers from across the globe, here in the heart of our
Church, in Rome. As Augustinians, we are united not only by our common Father, Saint Augustine, and
our shared Rule, but by the universal embrace of the Church, whose mother is the Blessed Virgin
Mary. And it is her birthday, her Nativity, that we celebrate today – a day when the Church
rejoices in the dawn before the True Sun.

The readings today beautifully illuminate this sacred dawn.

Micah, in his prophecy, speaks of Bethlehem, the smallest among the clans of Judah, from whom
"shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; whose origin is from of old, from
ancient days." We know this to be Christ, born in Bethlehem. But before the ruler, there must be
the vessel. Before the King, there must be the Queen Mother. Before the Sun, there must be the
Morning Star. Mary’s birth is not merely a historical footnote; it is the divinely orchestrated
beginning of the new creation, the first fruit of salvation, the very earth from which the saving
shoot would spring. She is the daughter of Zion, prepared from eternity to bring forth peace.
Then, the Psalmist sings with a joy that echoes through the ages: "But I trust in your unfailing
love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to
me." This is the song of Mary's heart, even as a child. It is the song of every faithful soul who
recognizes God's goodness, and it reaches its crescendo in her Magnificat. Today, we join that
ancient chorus, for in Mary's birth, we see the first tangible sign of God's immense goodness, the
promise of salvation drawing near.

And Matthew’s Gospel, with its seemingly dry list of names, suddenly bursts forth with the
miraculous. The genealogy traces the lineage of Joseph, the foster-father, through generations of
human history, highlighting the very human roots of our Lord. But then, the pattern breaks. We
read: "Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ."
Notice the deliberate shift: not "Joseph begot Jesus," but "of whom [Mary] was born Jesus."

Mary stands alone, unique. Her origin is not from human generation in the ordinary sense, but
from the singular, creative act of the Holy Spirit. She is the hinge of salvation history, the
point where the divine breaks into the human in a new and utterly unprecedented way. She is the one
whose fiat would rewrite the destiny of humanity, allowing "Emmanuel – God with us" to become a
living reality.

Brothers, as Augustinians, how does Mary’s Nativity speak to our hearts, restless for God?
Saint Augustine, that profound seeker of truth, understood the primacy of grace. Mary, "full of
grace," is the living embodiment of God's gratuitous love. Her very existence is a testament to the
power of grace to prepare, purify, and elevate a soul for the divine. For us, who strive to live
"one mind and one heart intent upon God," Mary is the perfect model of interiority. She pondered
these things in her heart (Lk 2:19), holding God's mysteries close, allowing them to shape her very
being. In a world full of noise and distractions, her silent, contemplative "yes" calls us back to
the wellspring of God's presence within us.

Her humility, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord," is the radical surrender that Augustine
himself wrestled with – the surrender of the ego to divine will, the true freedom found in
obedience. Her obedience opened the gates of heaven; our obedience, however imperfect, allows God
to work through us for the good of the Church and the world.

And think of her as the Mother of the Church, the Mother of our Augustinian family. From every
continent, every culture represented in this chapel today, we can look to Mary as our common
Mother, who unites us in Christ. She transcends all boundaries, all languages, all human divisions.
She is the ultimate paradigm of that unity in charity that our Rule calls us to.

So today, as we celebrate Mary’s birthday, let us not just admire her from a distance. Let us allow
her to inspire us. Let us cultivate that same deep interiority, hearing the Word of God and
pondering it in our hearts. Let us embrace humility, trusting in God's plan for us, even when it
demands sacrifice. Let us live with that sure hope and joyful praise of the Psalmist, for God has
indeed been good to us, giving us such a Mother. And let us carry her Son, Jesus, Emmanuel, to a
restless world, just as she carried Him in her womb, and nourished Him with her life.

May our Lady, Mother of Good Counsel, Mater Boni Consilii, the Mother of Unity, Mater Unitatis, and
our Mother, keep us ever faithful to our Augustinian charism, and lead us, with one mind and one
heart, closer to her Son, as we await the emergence of a new Prior General and council in the
coming weeks or days. Amen.