Month: November 2020

Today the Church celebrates the Memorial of the Presentation of Mary. This is not found in the Gospel, but is based on an ancient tradition that Mary was taken to the Temple in Jerusalem and dedicated to God as a child. Its place on the liturgical calendar dates back to the 6^th century in the East (where it is celebrated as the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, one of the Eastern Orthodoxy’s 12 Great Feasts!) and the 16^th century in the West (though it had some widespread local celebrations before being included in the universal Roman Calendar in 1585).

It is interesting to note that the three feasts of the life of Jesus – Christmas, the Holy Name of Jesus, and the Presentation in the Temple – are mirrored in the three feasts of the Marian cycle: the Nativity of Mary, the Holy Name of Mary, and her Presentation in the Temple. It is this mirroring that gives us a clue as to why this celebration is significant and remains on the liturgical calendar. Mary always points to Jesus and she was the first disciple, the first Christian, the one who followed Jesus most closely. These “parallel feasts” are a reminder that Mary’s life paralleled the life of Christ her Son.

Everything that Jesus tells us to do, Mary has done in an exemplary way, and so we are encouraged to look to her, as the human being on earth who knew Jesus best and can teach us how to follow him closely. We can look to her example to learn how to “ponder in the heart,” seek first the Kingdom of God, bear the cross in the world, trust in God’s mercy and love, and keep our eyes on the eternal treasure of Heaven.

Mary’s deepest identity is BELIEVER – one who encountered the Word of God, accepted it, assented to it, and never wavered, all the way to the cross and beyond.  She is our example of complete receptivity to the Word and a ready YES to every breath, every movement of the Holy Spirit.

There is nothing that Mary does without it being undertaken by the impulse of that original and ever-active grace of the Spirit that filled her from the beginning. And so, this tradition that her parents brought her to the Temple to dedicate her to God makes sense. We can almost see her there, prompted by the Spirit to open herself wholly to the God of her people. This act of dedication would be fully realized as she grew under the gaze of the Father, seeking His Will alone, so that she could truthfully say to the angel: “I am the handmaid of the Lord.”

So, let us ask Mary, “full of grace,” to intercede for us before the Throne of Grace, that we will love and serve the Lord freely and fully as she did!

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According to tradition, John the Evangelist was the only disciple that was not martyred. He died on the island of Patmos, in exile. Perhaps the Lord spared him to write the book of Revelation. He encountered a pretty big angel, with one foot on land and the other on the sea. That sight alone was enough to motivation him to do what he was asked. He was told to take the scroll and eat it. It would taste like honey in his mouth but turn sour in his stomach.

God’s word becomes non-sweet when it instructs us to do or say something we would rather not. That is not to say we do not believe it. It just makes us very uncomfortable to think about it, let alone do it! Being a Christian takes work and sacrifice! We have to decide if it’s worth it. At times it becomes so difficult that it seems like it’s not. Jesus went to the cross to save us. If you forgot how He suffered, watch The Passion of the Christ again or for the first time. It is very graphic! Some would say we cannot truly understand what love is until we can enter deeply into what Jesus Christ has done for us. I tend to agree.

Think for a moment of someone you know who lived great sacrifice in their life. The first one I noticed was on my paper route when I was a tween. If their inside door was open when I came to collect for the week, I would sometimes hear a loud moan. I never knew what was going on until a few years later. I knew who the husband was but had never seen his wife. It was her. She had had a severe stroke in her twenties, shortly after they were married. He never left her or put her in a home the whole time I knew them. That man was like a hero to me.

I think the word sacrifice is all but gone from our culture. After WWII our country was one of community and family. I grew up in Ludington where there was an atmosphere of people helping people. Looking back, it was a wonderful place to grow up. For you younger people, imagine this: After WWII, two of my dad’s brothers got married in the same wedding and then both moved into a one bedroom apartment together! They would rotate the use of the bedroom. The lack of financial resources after WWII forced them to be creative and sacrificial.

I invite you all in this coming season of Advent to ask the Lord what kind of sacrifice you can make for someone you love or someone you don’t love. If something doesn’t come to mind, ask the Lord. You may be surprised!

Serve With Joy!

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