The Presentation of Mary in the Temple

Today Holy Mother Church Commemorates the Presentation of Mary in the Temple. This feast dates back to the early sixth century and was first celebrated in Jerusalem. It was first celebrated by the Eastern Church, and it was later, in the 11th century, that the Western Church added this feast to it's calendar.

This feast is not based on anything we can find in scripture, but in apocryphal literature. In what is recognized as an unhistorical account, the Protoevangelium of James tells us that Anna and Joachim offered Mary to God in the Temple when she was 3 years old. This was to carry out a promise made to God when Anna was still childless.

This feast gives us an insight as to who Mary was as a person, totally devoted to God since childhood. And thanks to her parents, Anna and Joachim, Mary was prepared to answer the call to be the mother of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

The influence of Anna and Joachim on Mary is a great example of what it means to be good and responsible parents. Not only were they concerned with Mary's physical needs, but they were concerned with Mary's relationship with God. Further, they were grateful to God for the gift of a child, and presented Mary to God in gratitude for Mary coming into their lives.

We can use this as an example in our society where the value of human live has so much diminished. It's diminished so much that abortion (the killing of an innocent life) is seen as a "right". Rather than be grateful for the gift of life, children in the womb are considered less than human, and, as a result, are disposable.

We, as a society, are encouraged to value all human life, from conception to natural death, as sacred. Further, in addition to the physical and educational needs of the children that are born to us, we are to make sure they develop healthy, spiritual lives. We are to present our children to God in gratitude for the gift of who they are: people made in the image of God.