The Fourth Saturday: The Fourth Joyful Mystery – Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

Gospel Reading: Luke 2:22-35

MEDITATION

1. Love of sacrifice marks the first gesture of our Redeemer’s life and the entire life of his Blessed Mother. Barely forty days have elapsed from the moment of his birth, and already the Son and the Mother have accomplished two great sacrifices. Jesus, after eight days, offers the first drops of his Blood to his Father on the day of the Circumcision; and Mary, after the forty days required by the Law, offers her Firstborn Son to God.

On the day of the Circumcision the name Jesus was given to the Child, which means Saviour: a sublime name which had already been revealed by the Angel Gabriel even before the Word descended to become Mary’s son. The Circumcision was a humiliating ceremony! Jesus, the Holy of Holies, is confused with sinners! and receives upon himself the mark of the faith Abraham had in him, as a manifestation of his true humanity and as an example of obedience and humility, quite the opposite of our pride. My soul, he has thus compelled you to accept spiritual mortification, that is, a cutting away of all the evil and obstinate thoughts of your spirit, of all the unruly and wilful passions of your heart, of your eagerness to forever speak about yourself and criticize your neighbour.

O Jesus, You shed your Blood to save me and yet for the sake of my salvation I wish to bear nothing? You are so prompt to shed it, and yet I still hesitate to give you my heart? O Joseph! O Mary! You two alone on earth know the price of this divine Blood. What a wound it was for your Heart when you saw it dripping!

O Jesus, so strong and powerful a name, the only one through which humanity can be saved, at whose invocation God grants every grace; that name which opened up Heaven, closed hell, chained the devil, overturned idols and banished idolatry; O name pure and holy, which came by means of an Angel from Heaven, and was given by Mary and Joseph, those virgin Spouses. O gracious and sweet name, relieve my pain, strengthen me in misfortune and comfort me with the hope of Paradise in the hour of my death. May the sweetest name of Jesus be for ever in my heart and on my lips.

2. “And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be called holy to the Lord’)” (Lk 2:22-23).

Observe, my soul, Mary’s obedience. She, the Mother of God and for ever a virgin, is not subject to this humiliating law for she differs from other mothers in everything. And yet, in this Mystery she generously accomplishes three great sacrifices.

First, the sacrifice of her honour. In the eyes of man she sacrifices her virginity, of which she had been so jealous in the eyes of the Angels and before God, ready to renounce the honour of becoming the Mother of God rather than ceasing to be a virgin. She is holy in the eyes of God, she is all pureness, and for her this is enough; human judgement does not trouble her. Oh how different are we! Hateful in the eyes of God, we long to appear pure in the eyes of man. Deserving hell, we yearn to be honoured and esteemed by everyone. Woe to those who dare to insult us… we immediately want to seek revenge.

The second sacrifice: to show herself poor. According to the law the mother had to offer a lamb; the poor would present two turtledoves or two young pigeons. Mary, the Queen of Heaven and of earth, the Mother of the world’s Creator, is not ashamed to appear poor in the eyes of the world and in the house of the Lord. She knew that the poor were scorned, and that all men and women take pains by their dress to appear rich, even when they are not. Even in the house of God the rich want the best places! Precisely in this holy place we often display our vanity with even greater pomp and ostentation! So great is our shame in appearing poor in the midst of the world that we may even neglect the divine Sacrifice of the Mass and the other obligatory religious services, solely because we lack suitable clothes! What rigorous account shall we give to God for the scandal we offer by our flaunting of pompous dress, which is an insult to the sufferings of the hungry poor?

Consider then, my soul, the weight of this sacrifice Mary accomplished, against that other idol of the world, which is wealth.

The third sacrifice, the greatest, most ineffable and priceless, was offering her Only Begotten Son unto death for us sinners.

Who can completely understand the value of so great a sacrifice? Mary and Joseph hold this Child in their arms to satisfy their love and share their happiness. “Behold, O Father,” Mary had to say then, “here is your Son and mine; I offer him to you in thanksgiving, because You gave him to me and to humanity; I offer him to you to appease your justice and make you merciful toward all humankind…”

Oh! how many favours the divine Mother obtained for us through Jesus Christ in this supreme offering! What a sight this holy oblation was for Heaven! In that moment God received in his Temple an offering worthy of Him and equal to Him.

Observe: at the price of a few silver coins the divine Jesus is ransomed, He who was to ransom us from hell at the price of his Blood that would flow from the five Wounds of his innocent Body!… My soul, present yourself before the heavenly Father in the company of Mary, and with her and Jesus offer all the thoughts of your mind and all the affections of your heart to your most high Creator.

3. The righteous Simeon looks upon this heavenly sight, and believes in the revelation of the Holy Spirit. He sees the Child and acknowledges him as the true God, and he inwardly worships him. He then takes him up in his arms, presses him to his heart, and manifests his joy and his gratitude by glorifying God. Why do I not have Simeon’s burning faith, I who shall have the chance this very day to more intimately embrace this same Jesus, and to possess him in the holy Communion in a more absolute way?

Notice, my soul, how Simeon blesses Mary and foretells her sufferings and the death of Jesus: “a sword will pierce through your own soul” (Lk 2:35). Mary must witness the heart of her Son transfixed by a spear, and must suffer that her own heart be transfixed by the pain… O great God! Was it not enough that Mary was destined to this cruel torment without having it announced to her thirty-three years in advance?

Nourish this dear Son with care, O Holy Virgin; your troubles shall grow along with him. Your martyrdom shall last for the length of his life; indeed, it shall increase day by day, as this tender Lamb slowly approaches the hour destined for his sacrifice. He is set for the fall and the rising of many, and as a sign of contradiction. Ah! If only my life too, along with yours, could be passed in retirement, in sorrow, in tears, in the remembrance of my Saviour’s suffering! From this day you deserve the noble title of Queen of Martyrs for you surpass them all with your sacrifice. They offer their life while you offered the life of your Only-Begotten Son, whom you loved and cherished far more than life itself. For them the sacrifice was momentary; for you it lasted your entire life, because you offered him to the Eternal Father in every moment, while always thinking of your Son’s future afflictions.

The Virgin revealed to St. Bridget that this sorrow foretold by Simeon remained with her till her death. From this day, St. Bernard says, though living, she began to slowly die by bearing deep within a pain crueler even than death.

Nevertheless, she accepted that painful message with heroic strength, perfectly submitting to the will of God. From this day, St. Augustine says, she became the Restorer of humankind; and, according to St. Ambrose, the Mother of all believers; and, as St. Epiphane calls her, the Redeemer of slaves; for she had but one wish, that of her Son: to save us.

O Queen of Martyrs, sea of sorrows, do not forsake me when, beneath the burden of suffering, I feel my strength and virtue weakening. From God obtain for me the strength and virtue to endure the trials and pain that He destines for me, with that peace, submission and love which He deserves. Let not the Wounds and the Blood of your most beloved Son be of no use to this soul.

My purest Mother, save me, and obtain Paradise for me. Give me the strength to truly begin this day to offer God an acceptable sacrifice of all my words, thoughts, desires, will, actions and passions.

May the example of your suffering comfort me in my moments of grief; may the example of your sacrifice inspire me to the sacrifice of my predominant passion.

O great saint, foster Father of Jesus and my Father, St. Joseph, your heart too was transfixed from this day till the end of your life: be my special guide in the paths of God, my protector throughout life, my comfort in the hour of death. Amen.

VIRTUE – Sacrifice.

REFLECTION – Offer God the sacrifice that is most acceptable to him, that is, the mortifying of your dominant passion. Therefore, for love of Mary’s heroic sacrifice, mortify yourself in those things which are most frequently the cause of your failings or falls. Or, force yourself to do what is most repugnant to your self-love, your own pleasures and satisfactions.

EJACULATION – O Mary, fountain of sweetness, help me in the anguish of my agony.