Fr Alex Swain

Beloved in Christ,

The question of one’s legacy is always an interesting one. Legacy, which survives on after we pass away, is usually portrayed as a noble goal in movies and tv shows.

Various texts in the scriptures, like Job and Ecclesiastes, and some of the Psalms, make us rethink the central focus of legacy, of the importance of being known past our death.

After all, most people are, and will forever be, unknown to us.

But, we are always—and forever – known to God.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The festal day where the birth of the mother of our Lord is marked.

We do not know of Mary’s parents. According to Lesser Feasts and Fasts, several apocryphal texts began to float in the 2nd century which gave answer to the birth of Mary.

These texts had stories detailing the parents of Mary who were named Joachim and Anne, and whose lives were “built out of Old Testament narratives of the births of Isaac and of Samuel…, and from traditions of the birth of John the Baptist.”

The parents of Mary could never have, in their wildest dreams, imagined that their daughter would one day be visited by an Angel and told that the salvation of the world would grow in her womb.

The parents of Mary could never have, in their wildest dreams, imagined that their daughter would one day carry the incarnation of God in her womb.

The parents of Mary could never have, in their wildest dreams, imagined that their daughter would assent to such a proposition, would ever say the great YES, when she proclaims, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38).

The parents of Mary—who legend has so named Joachim and Anne—are unknown to us. They are mysteries. We will not meet them until our time comes to step into eternity.

But theirs is a legacy which brings forth the redemption of the world through their daughter’s Son.

Legacy can be so fickle a thing. But we rest in knowing that God can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).

Let us give thanks for the birth of Mary, and of her parents’ faithfulness!

Amen!

—Fr Alex