Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

By Sr Amy McFrederick ~ November 21, 2008

Revelations 10:8-11;  Psalm 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131;  Luke 19:45-48

Today’s feast is associated with an event recounted not in the New Testament, but in the apocryphal Infancy Narrative of James. According to that text, Mary's parents, Joachim and Anne, who had been childless, received a heavenly message that they would bear a child. In thanksgiving for the gift of their daughter, they brought her, when still a child, to the Temple in Jerusalem to consecrate her to God. Mary remained in the Temple until puberty, at which point she was assigned to Joseph as guardian.  For the Roman Catholic Church, on the day of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary "we celebrate that dedication of herself which Mary made to God from her very childhood under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who filled her with grace at her Immaculate Conception."  Today’s feast also commemorates the dedication of the basilica of St. Mary’s in 543, which was built near the spot where that Temple was.  We recognize Mary as a temple where God dwelt in a special way, being the Mother of Jesus.  As we are reminded once again that we too are temples of God, the church is invited today to pray for cloistered religious "totally dedicated to God in prayer, silence and concealment.”

With these thoughts in mind as I read today’s scriptures, I felt inclined to relate the readings first to Mary, then to our lives as Dominicans, and to all our lives as Christians.  The first reading is about taking the Word of God into our beings, digesting it, and then being called to prophesy—to speak and act in God’s name, sharing the message.  Mary did just that…Upon accepting and receiving God’s Word at the Annunciation, she immediately set out to visit and serve Elizabeth.  The Word of God was not only incarnated in her, but it fed her soul and sent her on a mission.  The function of food taken in, is to be digested and energize us for action.  If it cannot do that, we get an upset stomach!

The warning that the Word would “turn John’s stomach sour” reminded me (firstly) of a saying in our Dominican tradition: “just as hoarded grain will rot…it must be shared, likewise God’s Word cannot be hoarded...it must be shared.”  And (secondly) Jeremiah’s experience when he said “I will not speak any more in God’s name”—within him something like a fire burned in his bone until he could hold in it no longer.  The Word of God is healing, peace giving—something we want to take in and cherish, but it is also challenging and cleansing, meant to be shared with the world.  As Dominicans we are called to study, contemplate, and pray together God’s Word, then let it overflow into our actions, in our praising, blessing and preaching.  In fact, as Christians, we are called to both hear Christ’s voice and follow Him to do even greater works than He did.

As I prayed this morning with these images and thoughts in mind, the prayer that rose up in me was for Jesus to ‘cleanse my temple’ (my being) of anything that robs me of the desire and ability to let God’s Word flow out of me.  I thought of how many people long to and need to hear and experience the Good News that we hear and experience daily.  I thought of some of the ‘thieves’ that might live within us that would take and keep for us alone what really belongs to others.  What might they be?—fear of suffering, inconvenience or discomfort? selfish desires? inertia or laziness?…each of us could name our own “thieves” that rob us of the full life Jesus calls us to as Members of One Body on His Mission to the world..

As we prepare to receive Christ and each other and all of creation in Holy Eucharist, let us take a few moments now to invite Christ once again to cleanse our temple, our being, of whatever keeps us from speaking the Word as Jeremiah and Dominic did, and ‘bearing Christ into the world’ as Mary did.