A PRESENTED PRESENT

Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mt 12:46-50

The details about the presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary come from the second-century apocryphal writing of St. James, the “Protoevangelium”. The date of its feast, however, comes from the year 543 – the dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary the New in Jerusalem. In 1585, this Marian feast was extended to the Universal Church.

According to pious tradition, the Blessed Virgin Mary was brought to the Temple at the age of three and lived there for the next twelve years. She learned the Jewish scripture and prayers from the temple priests whom she served while she grew up in the Temple. When she left the Temple, she was a lady perfectly beautiful in body and soul. Without anyone knowing it, she was ready for God’s election to be the mother of His Son.

We do not know if the details about the Blessed Virgin Mary’s presentation are historical or, at least, accurate. We know, however, that when the angel Gabriel visited her to announce to her that she would become the mother of God’s Son, Mary was perfectly ready for the divine choice. She willingly submitted her self to God’s will and placed her self entirely at His complete disposal. She who was presented at the Temple as a child was then a present to He who dwelt in the Temple. She who dwelt in God’s Temple then became the human temple of God. From being presented, she became a present.

When I was baptized on April 30, 1967, my parents offered me to God. As a remembrance of their modest offering to God, they had a picture of me taken. In the picture, I was dressed in my baptismal garment and was lying on the altar in front of the tabernacle of our parish church. My parents presented me to God. When I became a priest, I became God’s present not only to my parents but also to His entire People.

It is likewise our vocation to be God’s presents to others. We may view our baptism as our presentation to God. How we live out our baptismal consecration is our present to God and God’s present to others. Through it we affirm our being members of God’s family.