Minute Meditations: The Nativity

When I think of the mystery of The Nativity, I like to think of the day when each of my two children was born.  Along with the day I married my husband, those two days are my most memorable.  There is nothing quite like finally holding the child who grew in your womb for nine months, looking into the tiny face with wonder and delight.

Yet the wonder and delight can turn to frustration and helplessness when the tiny baby cries inconsolably or demands to be fed at 3 a.m.  There is also the process of working through selfishness as a mother.  The baby's needs must come before the needs of the mother and sacrifices are required which are not always met with joy and acceptance.

I then reflect on the perfect love between the holiest of all mothers and her Divine Son.  Since Mary was conceived without Original Sin and Jesus was God Incarnate, there were no barriers of selfishness to interfere with that mother-son bond.  I think of my own love for my children and multiply it a million times.  Then it occurs to me that Jesus has the same love for me!  How can I not devote 20 minutes a day to pray the Rosary as a small return of that enormous, unfathomable love?