The Presentation of Our Lady

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

“He was still speaking to the crowds when suddenly his mother and his brothers were standing outside. And they were anxious to have a word with him. But to the man who told him this, Jesus replied, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother’” (Matt. 12:46-50).

The Church places before us these words, this passage of the Gospel, on the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady, to remind us of how Jesus elevated His Mother because she was the one who most fulfilled the will of His Father in heaven.

Our Lord lifts up His Mother. And this Feast of the Presentation well recalls the consecration of the Church in Jerusalem, dedicated to the Presentation of Our Lady.

It was built to commemorate the commitment that Our Lady made when she was moved by the grace of the Holy Spirit during her childhood to dedicate herself completely to God.

St. Josemaría loved the word commitment. We are called to be very committed. Somebody said once: Tell me what you are committed to, and I will tell you what sort of person you are. And tell me how committed you are, and even more will I tell you what sort of person you are.

Our Lady was totally committed, led by the grace of the Holy Spirit to dedicate herself completely to God. And through the grace of the Immaculate Conception, she enjoys the gracious participation of the life of grace of any creature.

We look to Our Mother, full of grace, full of beauty because grace makes us beautiful in the eyes of God. That's why our eyes can always be attracted to Mary.

The Father of the Church has said, De Maria numquam satis—we can never have too much of Our Lady (St. Bernard of Clairvaux). By her great participation in the life of grace, she draws us to grace, to the source of grace.

The Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady has been celebrated in the Western world since the 14th century. So it has quite a history.

We know very little about the early life of Our Lady until the moment when the angel Gabriel appeared to her to communicate her vocation to her. Her existence on earth was very unique up to that particular moment.

We do know that she was full of grace from the first moment of her conception. Throughout her life, God specially watched over her, with an unrepeatable love.

But at the same time, we can imagine that Our Lady was a very normal child. She grew up like all the other children in her neighborhood and experienced all the things that little children experience. She must have been a delight for her friends, in all the ordinary, everyday circumstances of her life and of her town.

When St. Luke is writing his Gospel, he likes to bring out as much personal information about people as he can. But in Our Lady's case, there is no mention of any specific facts.

Probably Our Lady never really mentioned much about her early life. Maybe there was very little in those early years of extraordinary interest. All the important things happened in the intimacy of her soul, in the context of her continual dialogue with God.

Mary, may you help me in my commitment to have that sort of dialogue with Our God, living in His presence, continually thanking Him for things, lifting things up in adoration and praise, asking pardon for the things that may be wrong.

At the Annunciation, Our Lady calmly awaits her correspondence for the Incarnation of the Son of God to occur. One spiritual writer says, “O Holy Mother, why do you remain silent about the years of your childhood? The apocryphal gospels relate pious lies that are really deceitful images of your true nature. They falsely inform us that you lived day and night in the Temple, where the angels brought you meals and conversed with you. Such fabrications represent you to us as far removed from our daily experience” (S. Muñoz, The Gospel of Mary).

Saints and other writers have written, emphasizing the importance of the ordinary aspects of Our Lady's life. Her life must have resembled in many ways the ordinary tasks and duties of our own daily lives.

We have this Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady to remind us of those years. It's not a feast that has its origin in the Gospel, but more in ancient tradition, that Our Lady was presented in the Temple by her parents. The Church doesn't accept the fictitious narrative that she spent all her life in the Temple under a vow of virginity.

But the essential basis of this feast is the offering that Our Lady made of herself, a personal offering. Pope Paul VI in Marialis Cultussays, “She was moved by the Holy Spirit to consecrate her life to God, who filled her with grace from the first moment of her conception.”

Mary's complete dedication was very effective and continued to grow as she grew in her life. We could ask Our Lady that our commitment and our dedication might continue to grow and that we renew our generosity in the course of our lives.

We begin again. We renew that desire that led us to give ourselves completely at a certain moment so that we're always following in the footsteps of Mary, and that everything that happens is like a constant invitation to us to begin again, a new level of that generosity.

Our Lady's example can move us not to withhold anything in our own life of dedication because as human beings with original sin, we're capable of saying, ‘I give myself to you completely,’ but then the next hour or two or day, we take it all back again.

That commitment, that dedication, that generosity has to be constantly renewed—signing our contract, as it were, over and over again. Every year we're encouraged on March 19^th^ to renew that commitment. But it's something that needs to be renewed more frequently than every year. Mary, may I give myself to you completely.

This feast celebrates the complete surrender of Our Lady to God's plans for the salvation of mankind. God also wants our complete surrender, because we participate in this salvation, this great enterprise of redemption and salvation, which at times may demand that we stand beside the Cross, but also demands that we're involved in the little things of every day.

“They have no wine” (John 2:3). Our Lady was close to her friends, attentive, taking care of little details, involved in the great things, the big things, but also very attentive to the small things.

In the light of her total commitment, which implies the state of virginity, Our Lady is going to say to the angel Gabriel, “I know not man” (Luke 1:34). She tactfully reveals the entire history of fidelity to God that has taken place within her soul.

She's dedicated herself completely. She already personifies the later fulfillment of the New Testament's affirmation of virginity’s superiority over the state of marriage. But that superiority in no way lessens the sanctity of marriage. The Second Vatican Council says Christ Himself raised marriage to the dignity of a sacrament (Vatican II, Gaudium et spes, Point 48).

Mary, I want to ask you today to help me to live out my dedication to the full, to practice the virtues with all their consequences, human and supernatural, all the way, going the whole hog, holding nothing back.

In whatever situation or state God may place me, in accordance with this specific calling that God has given to me, this is where He wants me to be holy. This is where He wants me to do apostolate. This is the job that He wants me to do well today.

When St. Josemaría was walking along a corridor and he found some people painting something, he would say to them, Cada pincelada, un acto de amor, Each stroke of the brush, an act of love. Very relevant words for the ordinary tasks that we have to fulfill every day. Each stroke of the brush is an act of love. We bring love into everything we do.

St. Josemaría has written in The Forge, “Talk with Our Lady and tell her trustingly, ‘O Mary, in order to live the ideal which God has set in my heart, I need to fly very high—ever so high!’”

“It is not sufficient,” he says, “to detach yourself, with God's help, from the things of this world, recognizing them as merest clay. More is needed: even if you were to put the whole universe in a pile under your feet to get closer to Heaven...it wouldn't suffice!

“You have to fly, without the support of anything here on earth, relying on the voice and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And you will tell me: ‘But my wings are stained and smeared with the clinging mud of many years.’

“And I repeat: Turn to Our Lady. ‘Mary,’ you should say to her again, ‘I can hardly get off the ground. The earth draws me like an accursed magnet. Mary, you can make my soul take off on that glorious and definitive flight which has as its destination the very heart of God.’ —Trust in her, for she is listening to you” (Josemaría Escrivá, The Forge, Point 994).

Our Lady wants to hear these desires of our hearts—a desire to follow through completely in the calling that God has given to us, withholding nothing, giving everything, again and again, in all moments.

Mary, help me to correspond to the graces that God gives me.

The intimate relationship that Our Lady has with her Son far surpasses that of all God's creatures. In the Prayer Over the Gifts of this Feast Day, it says, “She is the one who receives the maximum donation of divine love since she is truly full of grace.”

Our Lady never denies Our Lord anything. Interesting point. We could examine our conscience and see if we have ever denied Our Lord anything.

That's why God wants us to always say yes to whatever is asked of us. Things will always be asked of us in a very nice way, with please and thank you. But always we have to try and see that whatever is asked of us is coming from the hands of God.

Our full dedication will involve that we always try and say yes. If there is some problem that we don't understand, like Our Lady, we ask a question: How can this be? (Luke 1:34).

Then when we are told something, we accept it with humility. But in principle, God wants our yes. Even if we sometimes feel like saying no, we have to examine that very carefully.

Our Lord gives us the example in the Gospel of the two sons. One was asked to go and do something and he said yes, he would do it immediately, but he never went. The other one said no but eventually, he went.The question is asked, “Which of the two fulfilled the Father's will?” (Matt. 21:28-31).

Our Lady's correspondence with the graces and motions of the Holy Spirit are always complete. She goes the full way. Going that full way for us means double-checking the things we've done, reporting back, doing the best we can, putting our whole heart and mind into the things we have in our hands at this particular moment.

This is where God wants me to be. This is where He wants me to do a wonderful job, to produce a masterpiece. Every day we’re called to produce a masterpiece, a symphony—a symphony that we offer to Our Lord at the end of the day, all the ups and downs, all the little actions and reactions, all the things that go through our mind, so that when we put our head down on the pillow at night, we can repeat our Morning Offering.

The Morning Offering that I said to you this morning was for real; I meant every word of it. In the dying moments of the day, I offer you the symphony that today has meant, that I've put together with all the little notes, some of them a bit off, some of them okay.

Our Lady stands out among all other human beings throughout history as somebody whom we have to imitate. [St. Josemaría] says, “Turn your eyes to Our Lady” (J. Escrivá, Friends of God, Point 109). We have these little images in every room so that we can continually turn our eyes toward her, the model.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church talks about Our Lady as the model of all the virtues (cf. Catechism, Point 829; Vatican II, Lumen gentium, Point 65, November 21, 1964). From her, we can learn how to give ourselves generously, again and again, even when possibly we don't feel like it or the wind is blowing in a different direction

Like her, we have to strive to make the most of our talents in the particular position where God has placed us, in the specific task entrusted to us in our apostolate, in our initiative, in our zeal, in our daring, in our thinking out of the box.

What does this new year coming mean for me? In what ways does God want me to launch out into the deep, to see new horizons, to make contact with old friends, or to break new ground with new friends?

St. Ambrose says, “Mary lives in such a way that her life is a lesson for everyone.” He concludes, “Represent before your mind’s eye the virginal life of the Blessed Virgin, in whom is reflected, as in a mirror, the…purity and energy of virtue itself” (St. Ambrose, On Virgins).

Only in Our Lord does the virtue of charity not admit of any increase, because He has the whole of the divine nature with Him. Everybody else can be growing in the virtue of charity.

Our Lady, growing continually in holiness in the whole course of her earthly life, growing in that charity, patience, kindness, tenderness, attentiveness to others—she corresponds in a consistent way, continually growing in holiness.

She is filled with the fullness of God's supernatural gifts from the beginning of her life. This leads her to be quick in corresponding to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

“He who does the will of my Father is my brother, sister, and mother” (Matt. 12:50). Mary is quick to fulfill that will. There's a promptness, there's an urgency there. ‘She went with haste into the hill country” (Luke 1:39).

Our Lord wants us would have a certain haste about us, a certain urgency to fulfill the things that are asked of us.

Her union with God must have intensified with the great events that were to take place in her and through her—the unfolding of the Incarnation, her Co-Redemption on Calvary, her Assumption into heaven—great moments.

The lives of the saints develop incrementally in the same way. The closer they draw to Our Lord, the more docile they become to the graces they receive and the more they advance in union with Our Lord.

Mary, help me to be more docile to all the graces you want to give me. Help me to be always going forward, so that I don't allow myself to backslide in any way. “The more progress we make in union with Jesus, the stronger becomes the attraction of our soul towards him” (Second Council of Constantinople).

Our Lady was able to say, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46-47). A lady told me once, ‘When I say those words, I could be hours and hours just contemplating them.’

Mary, may my soul truly magnify the Lord, so that other people may see Him in the things I do, in the words I say. It is God who willed that our lives would grow in a similar way. Moments of triumph or moments of trial—they equally provide opportunities to love God.

Our Lady's life was not without difficulties, changes of plans, the need for abandonment, for generosity—the journey to Bethlehem, the journey to Egypt—the need for greater faith and hope and trust.

The Blessed Virgin's example invites us to cast aside all earthly attachments in our struggle to please Jesus. Mary, if there's anything in my life that I'm attached to, help me to cast it away, to be free, available. Ecce ego quia vocasti me–Here I am because you have called me (1 Sam. 3:5-6,8). May nothing remain in our hearts that does not entirely lead us to give glory to God.

We are told in Christ Is Passing By, “My Lord, take away my pride; crush my self-love, my desire to affirm myself and impose myself on others. Make the foundation of my personality my identification with you” (J. Escrivá, Christ Is Passing By, Point 31).

Notice how he first and foremost talks about our pride, that inner enemy: “Crush my self-love.” Help me to see that enemy, help me to draw it out into the light of another's judgment so that I can see it in all its aspects. Until the enemy is drawn out from its hiding place, it cannot be attacked in an effective way.

Mary, help me to live more closely with you with each passing day. Give me that never-ending thirst that saints had to grow more and more in your love.

Our Lady was moved by a special grace to commit herself, and her entire life to God. Beautiful thought, beautiful challenge.

We are called to live this reality and also to place this great challenge before many other souls. Our Lord Himself placed that astonishing challenge before all young people when He said, “Go, sell all that you have, give to the poor. Come, follow me, and then you will have treasures in heaven” (cf. Matt. 19:21).

Our Lady may have made this decision when she reached the age of reason, a milestone in any life, and a moment that must have been particularly significant for someone who was as full of grace as Our Lady was.

Possibly she never made a formal declaration of her commitment to God, but she was just accustomed from the beginning of her life to live her dedication in a very natural way.

St. Alphonsus says, “The child Mary is well aware that complete offerings alone are acceptable before the Most High. In conformity with the divine precept, hearts that are divided do not please him. ‘You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, and with your whole strength’ (Deut. 6:5). From the beginning of her life, the Blessed Mother strives to love God with all her strength and is entirely given over to his service” (Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary).

Mary lived better than anybody else that precept to love the Lord Our God with our whole heart, our whole soul. We learn from her complete dedication. She was always “the handmaid of the Lord.” That didn't just begin when she said those words (Luke 1:38).

She lived it out throughout her life in a very concrete way. Her self-surrender continued to blossom and reached a renewed fullness throughout the circumstances and events of her life.

John Paul II likes to call the vocation of Mary a “pilgrimage of faith” (John Paul II, General Audience, March 21, 2001; Vatican II, Lumen gentium, Point 58). Pilgrimage is a journeying forward towards a certain destination. Our Lady was always on that pilgrimage, increasing the faith with which she lived on a day-to-day basis.

“Go to Egypt and remain there until I tell you” (Matt. 2:13). The plans of God are working themselves out. “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). We can hear Our Lord saying the same words to us, inviting us to follow the example of His Mother and St. Joseph.

Today, like every day, is a good opportunity to renew our dedication precisely in the midst of our ordinary tasks and duties, in the specific situation where God has placed us.

This is where you want me to be. Therefore, this is my place of grace. This is a moment of grace, a day of grace. This is where all your graces are going to help me to a maximum degree.

Every little bit of progress in our union with God necessarily entails a greater sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, the Divine Guest of our soul.

He must have been always whispering things to Our Lady as she grew, preparing her for the great moment of the Annunciation, which was like her response or like a following through on that commitment that she made much earlier.

St. Josemaría composed a prayer to the Holy Spirit. He said, “Come, Holy Spirit, enlighten my understanding to know your commandments.” Enlighten my understanding. Let me see. Let me understand at a deeper level.

“Strengthen my heart against the snares of the enemy.” The devil may be out to get us, to throw all sorts of terrible things at us. The last thing he wants is for us to cement our commitment.

“Inflame my will. … I hear your voice and do not want to harden my heart and resist saying: ‘Later...or tomorrow.’ Nunc coepi—now I begin! Now, since tomorrow may never come.”

Mary, help me to make those decisions, those resolutions, for today, for this hour, to practice those virtues a little better than perhaps is being suggested to me in spiritual direction.

“O Spirit of Truth and Wisdom, Spirit of Understanding and Counsel, Spirit of Joy and Peace, I fully accept whatever you desire for me in the way and at the time that you do, simply because you so want it” (J. Escrivá, Historical Records).

It doesn't matter what it is. The fact that you want it, that this has come to me through the channels, I know it comes from God, That's enough for me.

‘Go to Bethlehem,’ ‘Go to Egypt,’ ‘Go to Nazareth,’ ‘Go to the Cross.’ Everything is good and beautiful because it comes from your hands.

We could ask Our Lady today also for all the people in the world and the Church and close to the Prelature who might be contemplating their calling, that they may also react like Our Lady did, welcome that commitment, dedicate themselves, follow the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, and, like Our Lady, give their whole lives entirely over to the service of God. Ecce ancilla Domini; fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum (Luke 1:38).

Mary, help me to grow in my commitment, my dedication to follow the example of virtue that you've given to me all throughout your life.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

JSD