Sunday: Presentation of Mary Date: November 21, 2015. Year: B The readings: [1 Macc. 6:1-13; Lk. 20:27-40] The message: Faithfully serving the Lord God. Prepared by: Catholic Doors Ministry Total words: 950 |
Click here for the Index of all the Homilies
May I take this opportunity to wish you all a happy Feast of the Presentation of Mary. The origin of this Feast is at least 400 years old. It was first commemorated in the Western Liturgical Calendar in 1585.
Some of you may wonder why we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of Mary. It is to commemorate the day on which the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saints Anne and Joachim, presented Mary at the age of three to the Temple of God. This was done in accordance with the Jewish Custom that parents present their child to God at the Temple before the age of five.
In a way, we can say that the Presentation of Mary to the Temple is a picture of the Baptism of infants, when the newborns are presented to God for admission into the Body of Christ.
Another parallel that is found in the Jewish tradition versus today is in the education of the children. In the days of the Old Testament, children who remained in the Temple as Mary did, were educated in the ways of God by the priest. Nowadays, those who are baptized as infants, they are educated in the Catholic faith by their parents and godparents who are members of the common priesthood. [1 Pet. 2:5]
When I say, "they are educated in the Catholic faith," this is to be understood as a reference to those parents and godparents who fulfill their promises before God and the Church by nurturing the child in the Catholic Faith.
In today's First Reading from the Second Book of Maccabees, [2 Macc. 7:1, 20-31] we find a parallel between the mother of the seven boys who were martyred and the Blessed Virgin Mary as the mother of the Lord Jesus. In 2 Macc. 7:20, I read, "The mother was especially admirable and worthy of honourable memory. Although she saw her seven sons perish within a single day, she bore it with good courage because of her hope in the Lord."
Equally, when the Blessed Virgin Mary saw her beloved Son Jesus crucified on the cross, she bore the mental anguish with great courage because her hope was in the fulfillment of the prophecies that had been foretold to her by the angel of God, [Lk. 1:26], by her cousin Elizabeth, [Lk. 1:42-5] by the shepherds, [Lk. 2:17] by Simeon, [Lk. 2:34-5] and by Anna, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. [Lk. 2:38] Mary steadfastly maintained her hope against all hopes.
During the First Reading, we also heard that the young man walked towards his death. [2 Macc. 7:30-1] As Jesus obeyed the Heavenly Father to end by dying on the Holy Cross, the young man also remained steadfast to his faith until the end. As Jesus prepared Himself for the glory that awaited Him after the glorious Resurrection, the young man believed that the Lord God would raise him one day so he would be reunited with his mother and brothers. At that time, they would be rewarded for having remained steadfast in their faith.
Today's Reading from the Gospel of Luke [Lk. 19:11-28] also speaks of the eternal reward that awaits those who persevere in their living faith. In this holy reading, Jesus used the Parable of the Ten Pounds as the means of emphasizing the importance of bearing fruits in one's life.
One slave received ten pounds. Another received five. And yet another only received one. In other words, one person was blessed with ten talents, the second with five talents and the last with only one talent. By the grace of the Heavenly Father and the power of the Holy Spirit, the first two enjoyed overwhelming spiritual growth to the extent of becoming more in the likeness of the Lord Jesus. They took every opportunity that were placed before them to grow in the fruit of the Holy Spirit, in "charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity." [Gal. 5:22-23]
The last slave, having only one talent, he had the opportunity to grow in five, ten, fifteen and even twenty talents. What did he do? He buried his talent. He experienced no spiritual growth in his life. He lacked charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, etc... These were not important to him. Consequently, he lost all what he had, that being nothing! As such it will be on Judgment Day when the foolish ones will be condemned for eternity.
Coming back to today's Feast of Mary, in her we see the fruit of her wisdom. Create immaculate through the goodness of the Lord God, the blessed Virgin Mary remained in her pure state until her last breath. Blessed by God, she was given many gifts, including the tender and loving care of the Son of God. Successfully fulfilling her commission, she was blessed even more. By the grace of God, the Virgin Mary was elevated to the title of the Mother of God. The Holy Catholic Church elevated her to the titles of the "Assumption of Mary" and the "Immaculate Conception." These and many more were her rewards for having persevered until the end of her life on earth.
As we continue with the celebration of the Holy Mass, let us pray for strength to always faithfully serve the Lord as the Blessed Virgin Mother has done. Let us pray to obtain the same strength that the mother of the seven boys had. Let us pray that we will always remain faithful in the gifts that have been given to us by the grace of God so we may take these little flowers and present them to God as blooming bouquets at the end of our earthly lives.
* * * * * * * * * *
The readings...
[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]
* * * * * * * * * *
First Reading...
"King Antiochus was going through the upper provinces when he heard that Elymais in Persia was a city famed for its wealth in silver and gold. Its temple was very rich, containing golden shields, breastplates, and weapons left there by Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian king who first reigned over the Greeks. So he came and tried to take the city and plunder it, but he could not because his plan had become known to the people of the citizens and they withstood him in battle. So he fled and in great disappointment left there to return to Babylon.
Then someone came to him in Persia and reported that the armies that had gone into the land of Judah had been routed; that Lysias had gone first with a strong force, but had turned and fled before the Jews; that the Jews had grown strong form the arms, supplies, and abundant spoils that they had taken from the armies they had cut down; that they had torn down the abomination that he had erected on the altar in Jerusalem; and that they had surrounded the sanctuary with high walls as before, and also Bethzur, his town.
When the king heard this news, he was astounded and badly shaken. He took to his bed and became sick from disappointment, because things had not turned out for him as he had planned. He lay there for many days, because deep disappointment continually gripped him, and he realized that he was dying. So he called all his friends and said to them: 'Sleep has departed from my eyes and I am downhearted with worry, I said to myself, 'To what distress I have come! And into what a great flood I now am plunged! For I was kind and beloved in my power.' But now I remember the wrong I did in Jerusalem. I seized all its vessels of silver and gold, and I sent to destroy the inhabitants of Judah without good reason. I know that it is because of this that these misfortunes have come upon me; here I am, perishing of bitter disappointment in a strange land.'" [1 Macc. 6:1-13]
* * * * * * * * * *
Gospel Reading...
"Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Jesus and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will that woman be? For the seven had married her.'
Jesus said to them, 'Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.
And in fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive." [Lk. 20:27-40]
* * * * * * * * * *