The Fruit of the Presentation: Obedience
Forty days after His birth, Jesus is presented in the Temple, in accord with the law of Moses. As devout Jews, Our Lady and St. Joseph observed to the letter the God-given prescriptions of the Torah. The presentation of a first-born son was an act of consecration to God. Just as the Chosen People offered to the Father the first fruits of their land, they likewise offered Him the first fruits of the womb. The presentation of the first-born son was accompanied by the ritual purification of the mother and a sacrificial offering. As the Holy Family was too poor to present the ordinary offering of a lamb for a “burnt offering” and a dove for a “sin offering” (Lev 12:6), St. Joseph presents a ‘poor man’s offering’ instead: a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons (Lk 2:24).
Let’s pause to take a look at Our Lady in this mystery. She’s the Immaculate Conception, remember: she has absolutely no need of being purified, nor of the sin offering proper to her ritual purification. Nevertheless, she submits wholeheartedly to the ordinances of the law in a spirit of perfect obedience. What lesson would Our Mother have us take from her example?
She would have us submit to the ordinances of the Church with the same wholehearted obedience. She would have us lovingly abide by the Precepts of the Church. She would have us adhere to the Church’s liturgical norms with humility and reverence. She would have us bow our minds to the mind of the Church, expressed through the Magisterium – the official teaching authority conferred by Christ on the Church He founded.
The Magisterium refers to the authentic interpretation of the Word of God – the truth about divine revelation. It consists of the Pope and those bishops in union with him. Living in fidelity to the Magisterium has never been more critical than today. We live in a time in which the very idea of truth is suspect: everyone wants to determine reality for themselves, including many confused Catholics. We like the idea of Jesus as Saviour, but not the idea of Jesus as Lord. We want the love that Christ offers, but not the commandments that open us up to His love. We want a Catholic baptism and funeral, but not Catholic sexual morality in the years in between. A religion without truth claims is a contradiction in terms. Obedience to the Magisterium saves us from the spiritual danger of being ‘Cafeteria Catholics’, who pick and choose for ourselves what articles of faith we wish to accept, on the basis of our personal preferences. Truth is not a buffet! What God has revealed demands our humble submission, not our critical appraisal. God is the Father, we His little children; He is the Potter, we the clay.
Our Lady perceived her dependence on God so deeply that excusing herself from the obligations of the law would have never entered her mind. She was little with her Heavenly Father, and in her littleness, she trusted the wisdom of His commands. Obedience is the virtue proper to a child: “Honor your father and mother” (Ex 20:12). While growing up and acquiring independence is part and parcel of human development, spiritual maturity progresses in a very different way. We will never ‘grow up’ or ‘come of age’ in the spiritual life. In fact, the saints matured in holiness by becoming smaller and smaller, ever more docile and obedient to the Holy Spirit. This is because the spiritual life is a conformation – a conforming of our minds and hearts to God. We must make ourselves pliant to divine instruction, malleable in the Potter’s skillful hands. If we allow Him to bend and shape us, He will form us, day by day, into perfect Christians.
The obedience Mary practiced in the mystery of the Presentation remained with her in the quiet life of Nazareth and in the years of her Son’s public ministry. It was expressed most powerfully on Calvary, when the prophesy of Simeon came to fruition: “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed” (Lk 2: 35). On the Cross, Jesus became that sign of contradiction, as Mary stood by and shared in His pain. His Heart and hers were pierced right through. If we remain obedient to the Word of God in this age of disobedience, the prophesies of Simeon may be fulfilled in us well. However much this may cost us, in doing so we will anchor ourselves securely on the side of God… and the Most High always stands on the right side of history!
