| The Presentation |
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Before it gets much later in February, I wanted to get some admissions and thoughts out about The Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, celebrated February 2nd.
I was thumbing through my February 2007 issue of Magnificat on the bus the other day. I remember being so perplexed last year by the cover drawing of two duck-like birds. None of the essays explained the painting, and I was so busy with RCIA and reading the Catechism, I never got around to looking up the significance of the two birds. And even though I prayed the Rosary almost every Saturday during Lent last year (and theoretically contemplating the Glorious Mystery of The Presentation...), I did not know hardly any of the story of the Presentation. Anna was a new character to me. Simeon was a new character to me. The jewish rite of presentation, the fact that in the old calendar, Christmastide ended with The Presentation (and not The Baptism of Our Lord); Mary obeying the jewish custom of presentation (Angel Gabriel's Annuciation pretty much would tell modern young women that rite irrelevant or even insulting to woman "full of grace" and the fruit of her womb the Son of God); how did Simeon know that the Christ Child was the Messiah (Yes, scripture says the Holy Spirit, but had the Holy Spirit descended yet)? Why was Mary surprised that Simeon surmised who Jesus was, afterall the Angel Gabriel had given her the heads up in the Annunciation? The beauty and truth of Rembrandt's painting of The Presentation of Our Lord... these are all profound mysteries. Mysteries with limited clues, worthy of deep contemplation twice a week.
And now I know why we sing about two turtledoves in "The Twelve Days of Christmas." |
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