2 February 2022
Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
At the Annunciation, Mary received the eternal Son of God who developed a human body and nature in her womb. At Christmas, that divine son was born, destined to live among us as our Savior and Redeemer. According to Jewish law, forty days after the birth of the first male child, the parents were obliged to present him as an offering to God in the temple. Mary and Joseph complied.
So, the feast of the Presentation, which we celebrate today, focuses on how Mary put into effect the words she spoke at the Annunciation, “Thy will be done,” and mystery of the birth of her baby at Christmas, the child she was required by law to return to Him who had made the Annunciation and Christmas possible.
What is the lesson here for me? Everything he has given to me he asks me, as he asked Mary, to return to him – my background, my talents, my nature, myself. I use all he has given me for his glory, and when he requests that I return it to him, I do it with joy.
St. Ignatius put these ideas, so central to today’s feast, in a prayer called the Suscipe. I suggest that anyone who knows it should say it with greater devotion today, and those who do not know it can download it on the internet.
Lord, show me the meaning of today’s feast by enabling me to say, like Mary, Joseph and the newly born Jesus: “Take and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my entire will, all that I have and possess. You have given them all to me. To you, O Lord, I return them. …”
At the Presentation of the child, Mary was told a sword would be the price she would pay for her Suscipe. I will pray to her to show me how to bear any crosses that might come with my Suscipe.