33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dedicated to all the Parents and Young Children of Epiphany of the Lord Parish 

The Feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple: The Mother of God is Like the Moon which Completes its Course Faster than the Other Planets. 
(November 21) 

Having barely reached the age of three years, the holy child Mary entreated her parents that she might be placed in the temple according to the promise they had made. The appointed day having arrived, the immaculate young Virgin left Nazareth with St. Joachim and St. Anne, accompanied by a host of angels attending that holy child destined to become the mother of their Creator. 

Upon their arrival at the temple in Jerusalem, the holy child turned to her parents. Kneeling, she kissed their hands, asked for their blessing, and then, without looking back, ascended the steps of the temple. There, renouncing the world and all it could offer her, she wholly offered and consecrated herself to God. 

From then on, Mary’s life in the temple was a continuous exercise of love, offering her entire being to her Lord. As a young virgin in the temple, Mary did nothing but pray, desiring to be the servant of the blessed Virgin chosen to be the mother of God. 1 (Read: Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Glories of Mary: On the Feast of the Presentation of Mary). 

The feast day of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary in the Temple is celebrated annually on November 21. It is an event which illumines our Christian imagination: that wonderful and grace-filled moment when Saints Joachim and Anne presented their daughter, Mary, in the Temple. 

1 According to the Protoevangelium of James, Mary was offered in the Temple to God by her aged parents Anne and Joachim when she was only three years old, to fulfill a vow which Anne made when an angel appeared to her and told her that she would conceive a child who will be spoken of throughout the entire world (Pr. James 4:1). When the time came the child Mary was appropriately presented in the Temple and received by the priest, who, while blessing her, said: The Lord has made your name great for all generations. Through you will the Lord reveal his redemption to the children of Israel at the end of time (7:2). The Protoevangelium of James narrates that when the priest put Mary on the third step of the altar, God cast his glance down upon her and the child danced on her feet, and the entire House of Israel loved her (7:3). 

Primarily, we learn that Mary offers herself promptly. There will never be a greater offering to God than when Mary (at the age of 3) presented herself in the temple as a perpetual victim. She understood God’s words: “arise, make haste my love and come away” (Song of Solomon 2:10). God wanted her to forget her home and think only of Him: “forget your people and your father’s house” (Psalm 45:11). Let us reflect on Mary’s fervor as she entered the holy place. 

Secondarily, we discover that Mary offers herself without reserve. Mary knew that God does not accept a divided heart. She had studied the text: “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:5). She had loved God from the first moment of her existence. Yet, she yearned to consecrate herself in a solemn and public way. At this moment, she offered God her virginity. This was Mary’s first vow and she wanted to dedicate herself to the temple service for the rest of her life. We could all consecrate ourselves to God. 

Finally, Joachim and Anne could indeed only wonder what lay in store for their daughter, but we can draw two insights from today’s feast: first is that Mary would find her vocation within the loving home, the domestic Church, if you will, that Joachim and Anne prepared for her. And second, is that our faith in Christ helps us understand Mary’s unique vocation; conversely, turn Mary’s unwavering faith and dedication to God’s saving will illuminates our faith in Christ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph No.487.) 

However, every faithful parent of the Parish of Epiphany of the Lord, sees the hope and joy of God’s love shining on the faces of their precious children. Let every parent of our Epiphany Community ponder over the truth that since Mary, after Her Son Jesus, is the consecrated one of God, she leads you, your children and every parish member to God’s heart. She teaches every child of our parish what it means to be totally His. 

Dear parents of Epiphany, Mary calls your children back to where they most want to be: to the heart of God which, as you know, is also the heart of the world. She calls your children to let the passion of Jesus become their passion and his glory to become their glory. She calls your children to move beyond the dos and don’ts of the morally correct life into an intimacy with God where every child of our parish can live the sadness, pain, and anguish of this world while already tasting the gladness, joy, and peace of the glorified Lord (Henri Nouwen) 

Nevertheless, I earnestly pray that the parents of Epiphany of the Lord imitate Mary and consecrate themselves and their young children fully and without delay to God. Let us do so through maternal hands of the Blessed Virgin, because God never rejects her gifts. Let us finally have unbounded confidence in Mary that we would receive gifts from her hands. Let us demonstrate our affection for Mary in our lives. For, this is our primary responsibility as good Catholic parents and as people of Pilgrims of Hope. 

My fraternal wish is that each parent and every child of the parish of Epiphany of the Lord, be led to consecrate himself/herself to God through maternal hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the Feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple. 

Fraternally in Jesus and Mary, 
Fr. John Peter Lazaar SAC & Fr. Clement Sahaya Anand SAC