Presentation of the Lord Feb.2
Presentation of the Lord
Today we celebrate the feast of the Presentation of Jesus, the day we remember all the consecrated lives called vita consecrate, and also it is the Groundhog Day and also First Friday.
Do you know what happened forty days after Jesus' birth? We have it in today's Gospel: the purification of Mary and the presentation of Jesus.
As far as I know, only the Catholic Church keeps track of the days since Christmas. If you add the days between Christmas and New Years (7), the month of January (31) and the first two days of February, you reach a total of 40.
In the image of Joseph and Mary presenting Jesus in the Temple, we have a wonderful model of husband and wife united in practicing the faith and in raising their child in the faith.
We read that “When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord” (2:22) There is a confusion of detail here because, according to Jewish law, purification was for the mother alone while presentation was for the child. The story appears to be speaking of the two ceremonies as if they were one. Luke stresses the fact that they are doing it “as it is written in the law of the Lord” (verse 23). Joseph and Mary are presented as people who keep God’s laws. Moreover, they are presented as doing it together. It is easier to walk in the ways of God when husband and wife walk it together and encourage each other along the way. The author of Ecclesiastes had something like this in mind when he wrote: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10). Husband and wife are companions in the journey of life, especially in the journey to our ultimate destination. We see this as we contemplate Joseph and Mary together in the Temple in obedience to God’s law.
Some people are against the infant Baptism. But I think if parents are supposed to provide their children with the basic necessities of life, what is more basic than one’s faith in God. No parents would think of allowing their children to decide whether they want to go to school or not, whether they want to learn the common language or not, whether they want to be a citizen of their country or not. We make these decisions for them, knowing fully well that when they grow up, they may decide to continue with what we gave them or abandon it. But only a foolish parent would refuse to send a child to school or teach a child their language and tradition in the name of respecting the child’s freedom to choose. Similarly parents have a responsibility to initiate their children into their faith traditions. This is what we see today in the feast of presentation as Joseph and Mary present Baby Jesus in the Jewish Temple.
In our Gospel Reading, Saint Luke tells us that the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph went to the Temple in Jerusalem in accordance with the Jewish law that said each first-born male child had to be offered to God forty days after being born. Jesus, the Son of God, did not have to be offered to God the Father. Nevertheless, he allowed this to occur because he wanted to be like us in everything, except sin. A physical and emotional re-integration into the community. Even though the feast we celebrate today is not exactly Marian in nature, we should remember that Jesus arrived at the Temple, for the first time in his earthly life, in the arms of his mother, Mary. It could be said that by taking Jesus to the Temple Mary was the instrument through which humanity would first hear of the mission that was given to her Son, Jesus, the enlightenment of all the nations on earth with the light of his life and his grace. The role of the Virgin is to show us the road to her Son, Jesus. The greatness of the Mother of God is based on her Divine Maternity.
Happy Feast to all of you
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Today we celebrate the feast of the Presentation of Jesus, the day we remember all the consecrated lives called vita consecrate, and also it is the Groundhog Day and also First Friday.
Do you know what happened forty days after Jesus' birth? We have it in today's Gospel: the purification of Mary and the presentation of Jesus.
As far as I know, only the Catholic Church keeps track of the days since Christmas. If you add the days between Christmas and New Years (7), the month of January (31) and the first two days of February, you reach a total of 40.
In the image of Joseph and Mary presenting Jesus in the Temple, we have a wonderful model of husband and wife united in practicing the faith and in raising their child in the faith.
We read that “When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord” (2:22) There is a confusion of detail here because, according to Jewish law, purification was for the mother alone while presentation was for the child. The story appears to be speaking of the two ceremonies as if they were one. Luke stresses the fact that they are doing it “as it is written in the law of the Lord” (verse 23). Joseph and Mary are presented as people who keep God’s laws. Moreover, they are presented as doing it together. It is easier to walk in the ways of God when husband and wife walk it together and encourage each other along the way. The author of Ecclesiastes had something like this in mind when he wrote: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10). Husband and wife are companions in the journey of life, especially in the journey to our ultimate destination. We see this as we contemplate Joseph and Mary together in the Temple in obedience to God’s law.
Some people are against the infant Baptism. But I think if parents are supposed to provide their children with the basic necessities of life, what is more basic than one’s faith in God. No parents would think of allowing their children to decide whether they want to go to school or not, whether they want to learn the common language or not, whether they want to be a citizen of their country or not. We make these decisions for them, knowing fully well that when they grow up, they may decide to continue with what we gave them or abandon it. But only a foolish parent would refuse to send a child to school or teach a child their language and tradition in the name of respecting the child’s freedom to choose. Similarly parents have a responsibility to initiate their children into their faith traditions. This is what we see today in the feast of presentation as Joseph and Mary present Baby Jesus in the Jewish Temple.
In our Gospel Reading, Saint Luke tells us that the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph went to the Temple in Jerusalem in accordance with the Jewish law that said each first-born male child had to be offered to God forty days after being born. Jesus, the Son of God, did not have to be offered to God the Father. Nevertheless, he allowed this to occur because he wanted to be like us in everything, except sin. A physical and emotional re-integration into the community. Even though the feast we celebrate today is not exactly Marian in nature, we should remember that Jesus arrived at the Temple, for the first time in his earthly life, in the arms of his mother, Mary. It could be said that by taking Jesus to the Temple Mary was the instrument through which humanity would first hear of the mission that was given to her Son, Jesus, the enlightenment of all the nations on earth with the light of his life and his grace. The role of the Virgin is to show us the road to her Son, Jesus. The greatness of the Mother of God is based on her Divine Maternity.
Happy Feast to all of you
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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