On the day we hear about a master who leaves
coins with his servants, expecting those servants to invest those coins wisely
to earn a return for their master, we celebrate the presentation of the Virgin
Mary in the Temple, which does not have a direct reference in the Gospels, but
can be traced to other first century writings & to tradition in the early
Church.
Tradition
teaches that Mary was taken to the Temple in Jerusalem when she was a young
girl. She must have spent a great deal
of time in the Temple preparing for her eventual role as the mother of our Lord
and the mother of Church. We can use our
imagination and our understanding of Mary from Scripture and from tradition to
reflect upon what her childhood and her journey of faith might have been like
before the annunciation. We can also ask
ourselves how we can turn to Mary and ask her to help prepare us for our
mission as Christians in our modern world.
Although
Mary probably spent much time in the Temple & in the study of Jewish
Scripture and tradition, she also probably spent a lot of time with St. Anne
and St. Joachim, her mother & father, growing up in a loving family who
exposed her to the reality of life around her, including the sufferings of the
poor. Mary was full of grace, but I also imagine that her parents and her
upbringing fostered and encouraged her empathy and compassion, her generosity
and humble nature, her empathy and forgiveness.
May
the example of the Virgin Mary encourage us as we travel along our own journey
of faith. It's so easy to squander those gifts and talents that the Lord gives
us, to not want to invest them in the same God wants us to, enabling us to
produce results for the kingdom. May the
Virgin Mary be an example of Christian love and virtue for us in how we should
live our lives of faith, to encourage us to live a life of faith in service to
the Lord.
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