LIVE IT TODAY: Monday, September 8, 2025 | Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
I have entered your family story through Mary, and I am with you always.
LIVE IT TODAY: Monday, September 8, 2025 | Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed
Virgin Mary
A GREAT WAY TO BEGIN TODAY!
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GOD'S DECLARATION TO YOU TODAY
I have entered your family story through Mary, and I am with you always.
INVOCATION
Come, Holy Spirit! Through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother Mary, open my heart to hear and receive all that You desire for me. Draw me ever more deeply into the Love and Life of the Blessed Trinity!
GOSPEL | Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23
The Book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham became the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah,
whose mother was Tamar.
Perez became the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab became the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz,
whose mother was Rahab.
Boaz became the father of Obed,
whose mother was Ruth.
Obed became the father of Jesse,
Jesse the father of David the king.
David became the father of Solomon,
whose mother had been the wife of Uriah.
Solomon became the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asaph.
Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Joram,
Joram the father of Uzziah.
Uzziah became the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah.
Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amos,
Amos the father of Josiah.
Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers
at the time of the Babylonian exile.
After the Babylonian exile,
Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel the father of Abiud.
Abiud became the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
Azor the father of Zadok.
Zadok became the father of Achim,
Achim the father of Eliud,
Eliud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar became the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.
Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
"Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins."
All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:
Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means "God is with us."
EVERY DAY QUESTION
What struck you? Challenged you? Inspired you? What questions did it raise?
GOING DEEPER
God With Us in Every Generation
Matthew begins the Gospel not with action, but with a long list of names. Why? Because salvation is not abstract. It is a story, a family line, a chain of generations—full of both saints and sinners—that leads to Mary and her Son. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba—all women marked by brokenness, scandal, or outsider status—are woven into the Messiah’s ancestry. From the beginning, God chooses to write His story through the unexpected, the imperfect, the marginalized.
And then we come to Mary. Her Nativity, which we celebrate today, is more than a birthday. It is the dawn of hope. In her, God brings together the long history of Israel and the future of salvation. Her “yes” becomes the hinge of history. Emmanuel—God with us—enters the world not through power, but through the womb of a humble virgin.
Joseph, too, plays a crucial role. The Gospel highlights his righteousness—not in rigid legalism, but in mercy. When faced with scandal, he chooses compassion. When confronted by the angel, he chooses obedience. Through Joseph’s fiat as much as Mary’s, the Child is welcomed, named, and embraced.
Parents, this genealogy is not dusty history. It is a mirror. Our families, too, are filled with weakness and glory, brokenness and promise. Yet God’s plan unfolds through it all. Your children’s names belong in God’s story. Their lives, like Mary’s, are meant to be vessels of Emmanuel—God with us.
What if we believed this in our homes? That the daily grind, the noisy meals, the ordinary struggles are part of God’s saving history? What if we prayed over our children by name, asking the Holy Spirit to write His story through them?
The Nativity of Mary is a feast of hope. God is faithful across generations. He enters our families, not because they are perfect, but because He is Emmanuel. Today, rejoice: through Mary’s birth, salvation history bends toward your living room, your marriage, your children. God is with us—here and now.
“God became man so that man might become God” (CCC 460).
LIFE APPLICATION QUESTIONS
Family Story: How does seeing Jesus’ genealogy help me view my own family history differently?
Mary’s Nativity: What does Mary’s birth say about God’s plan to use the humble and hidden for His glory?
Emmanuel at Home: How can I make space for “God with us” in the ordinary rhythms of my family today?
FAMILY LIVE IT
Make some time today to gather together and, going around, each person share one way God has shown His presence in your family’s history or daily life.
Then pray over each person by name:
“Lord Jesus, Emmanuel, we praise You for being with [Name]. Let them know that their life is part of Your great story. Free them from every lie of the Enemy, strengthen them in courage and love, and write Your hope into their hearts as You did through Mary. Make our family a sign of Your presence.”
DAILY PARENT & GRANDPARENT BLESSING
LORD JESUS CHRIST, let Your holy anointing be upon each of our children, grandchildren, and godchildren this day and week, including all to whom they are called in vocation, and all future generations! In Your Sacred Name we claim them for You! We renounce all whispers, lies, and influences of the Enemy! We pray right now that each know Your loving Presence, be forged in virtue, and be flooded with an abundance of Your Holy Spirit to live fully their identity and mission in You now and through all eternity, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother! Amen.
PARENT BLESSING PROJECT: bit.ly/ParentBlessing
GOING VERTICAL
“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
Just as the vertical beam upholds the horizontal beam of the Cross, so too does undistracted, dedicated daily turning to God as our lifeblood uphold and strengthen every part of life. Start with just three minutes. Wait patiently for the breakthrough beyond the noise. Let Him speak.
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