Day 32: A Total Offering

I'm Fr. Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast, where through prayer and meditation, the rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world.
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And if you haven't already, please consider supporting us at ascensionpress.com forward slash support. The fourth joyful mystery is the presentation of Jesus in the temple.
Luke chapter 2, verses 22 through 39. And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.
As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And inspired by the Spirit, he came into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now let your servant depart in peace according to your word.

For my eyes have seen your salvation,

which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and for glory to your people Israel.

And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him,

and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,

Behold, this child is set foruel of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity, and as a widow till she was 84.
She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour, she gave thanks to God and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee to their own city. All right, so what's happening here? The presentation account here, Luke 2, 22 begins, and when the time came for the purification.
So, what we're talking about here is 40 days after the birth of the Lord. There's two laws being fulfilled.
First, there's the purification, and then there's the redemption of the firstborn son through an offering prescribed by the law. Because for 40 days after giving birth, a mother was to abstain from ritual practices.
And then as a purification, she is to present a purification sacrifice. That would be a lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtle dove for a sin offering.
The poor people, instead of offering the lamb, could bring and offer either two turtle doves or two young pigeons. And what the gospel account reveals is that Mary and Joseph, they make the offering of the poor.
What's important to note here in Pope Benedict XVI does it in the Jesus of Nazareth, the infancy narratives, is that Mary herself actually doesn't need this purification because of the uniqueness of her own immaculate conception, but also the uniqueness of the virgin birth. Also, there's the reality that the one who is born of her is the one who actually ushers in the purification of the whole world.
Yet Mary and Joseph and Jesus, as they do, they still obey the law, they fulfill the law. And in this way, they've served the fulfillment of the promises of God.
And we also see is the fulfillment of the law that the firstborn son needs to be redeemed. Generally, this was done by paying a price of five shekels to a priest in any place.
And this is the fulfillment of what's written in Exodus chapter 13, verses 11 through 16. After the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you as he promised on oath to you and your ancestors, you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb.
All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord. Redeem with the land every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck.
Redeem every firstborn among your sons. In days to come, when your son asks you, what does this mean? Say to him, with the mighty hand, the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
When Pharaoh severally refused to let us go, the Lord killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.
And it will be a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead. And so we see the fulfillment of the law, which was a way of remembering, a way of always remembering, ritually remembering the way in which God saved and delivered the people of Israel.
What's of interesting note, however, is that neither the purification of a mother or the redemption of their firstborn had to actually happen in the temple. But Mary and Joseph, they wished to do this in Jerusalem.
And this is what Pope Benedict XVI says. And it is here precisely, the of the law that the principal event is transformed neighborly.
It becomes the presentation of Jesus in the temple of God, which means the act of offering the son of the most high to the father who sent him. Now, certainly, although it wasn't required in the temple in Jerusalem, many mothers would have come for their own purification and many parents would have come here again for the redemption of the firstborn to fulfill the law.
Yeah, this one is brand new. This is totally unique, a totally unique event.
Here, the son of the most high, here Jesus is presented to his father. Here Jesus is offered to the father.
Already at 40 days old, he is living what he will live with the entirety of his life. This total offering to the father.
What also is noteworthy is that, you know, there's a lot of things happening in the temple as the holy family enters. Yet it doesn't seem to make much of a commotion.
Nobody really notices except for two elderly people. The two people who notice are Simeon, who the scripture says was righteous and devout, and Anna, who was a prophetess, who was 84 years old, and who did not depart from the temple as she was there worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day so it's just anna and it's just simeon who recognized jesus and who noticed that something new is happening something different is happening what's to be understood here by the elderly simeon and anna is that they are representatives of the old covenant.
And the joy that they express is representative of the joy of those of the old covenant who have been waiting for and longing for the Messiah. The awaited for one is here.
And what does Simeon do? Scripture says this, he took him up, he took Jesus in his arms, blessed God and said, Lord, now let your servant depart in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.
Very clearly, what Simeon is saying is that there's a fulfillment here, a fulfillment of the promise here, the Messiah is here. Most particularly, you can see the very clear allusions to both Isaiah 42.6 and Isaiah 49.6, which said, I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations.
And 49.6, I will give you as a light to the nations that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Now to put ourselves in the mindset of a first century Jew, this is just very clear.
What's happened here is very clear. The awaited for Messiah is here and therefore there is cause for rejoicing.
Therefore there is cause for peace because our salvation is here. And while this is one of the joyful mysteries, and so we're going to focus on joy, it's not without a perfect moment of the cross of suffering, right? Immediately after he offers what we call this chemical of Simeon, Simeon turns to Mary and says these words, right? And a sword will pierce through your own soul.
Also, we already see this foreshadowing of the cross. John Paul II refers to Simeon's prophecy here as a second annunciation.
And also he goes on to say, that's why we are still at the dawn of Jesus' life. We are already oriented to Calvary.
Yes, there's cause for great rejoicing. The Savior is here.
The long-awaited for messiah is here yet our salvation will come at great cost you know in the church actually religious priests we all pray what's here referred to as the canticle of simeon every single night and i think it's a little bit like you know you know, don't go to bed in a fight. I don't really know if that's totally the ideal marriage advice, but it's kind of like that version for us.
It's okay. Whatever has happened today, we're going to close the day by acknowledging that God is with us.
We're going to close the day by remembering like good news and reconciling whatever the sufferings, whatever the difficulties, whatever the concerns are, with the reality of our Savior who is with us. This day, the Messiah, the Savior, has already been saving us.
He's already been loving us. He is with us.
So let's entrust to him where it was clear, where there's easy cause for gratitude, but also again, in those difficulties and the sufferings and that which is unresolved, the anxieties, let's entrust them to the Lord, to the Savior, because he is here and he is at work, right? We see with Simeon and Anna, they're already given joy. Already Simeon is saying, okay, Lord, now I can go in peace because I've seen the salvation.
Like everything hasn't been put into place. All knots haven't been, you know, untied.
All things haven't been worked out, but the Savior's here. And so I know it's going to be okay.
And so that's how we end the day each night. Okay, Lord, I give it to you.
I rejoice where I've seen your salvation, and I entrust to you all those places of my life, of this world, that still need your salvation and your light. So now, I'm going to go to bed in peace, Jesus.
So my brothers and sisters, as we pray, let's go ahead and try and enter into the spirit of Simeon, the joy of the Savior, but also the peace of the Savior. Let's rejoice that our Lord is here, that our Savior is here, that the promise is being fulfilled, and let's entrust to him all those areas of our lives, of our hearts, of our families, of our world, of our church, which still need the fullness of his light and the fullness of his salvation.
With joy and confidence, let us pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the me and praying with me again today.

I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow.

All right, poco a poco.