It may be easy for us to forget that Jesus was raised in a devout Jewish family. As devout Jews, Mary and Joseph faithfully observed all of the prescribed rituals and obligations of their Jewish faith. Forty days after the birth of Jesus, his parents made the long, exhausting journey to the Temple in Jerusalem to fulfill the prescription of the Jewish law that obligated them to present their son to the Lord. This law stated that “every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord”. As prescribed by this law, the holy parents presented the sacrificial offering of two turtledoves in the Temple.
It is touching for us to see how conscientiously and lovingly Mary and Joseph observed the Jewish faith traditions of their ancestors, even though these traditions demanded considerable inconvenience and sacrifice of them to make the arduous, difficult journey to Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph taught Jesus well, as he carried out these Jewish faith traditions throughout his adult life and ministry, interpreting these traditions in the light of his identity as the Son of God.
It is important for us to note that for the Holy Family and for Jesus, there is no tension and no contradiction between their commitment to the prescribed Jewish rituals & their personal spirituality, their personal relationship with God. As integral members of their Jewish faith community, the faith of Mary and Joseph was grounded in the ritual traditions of the Jewish people, rituals that sustained that community for many generations. These same rituals sustained the Holy Family and passed on their Jewish faith to Jesus.
In our modern world, many people, especially many younger people, often see a tension between being religious in a ritualistic sense and being spiritual, in devoting ourselves to the pious practices of our faith and obeying the laws of God requiring us to practice social justice and to reach out to our neighbor, to the poor, and to the oppressed. May we follow the example of the Holy Family that we celebrate today on the feast of the presentation of the Lord, may we have a balanced faith that follows all of God’s laws and commandments, that follows the spirit of the faith that Jesus and the apostles passed down to us.
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