33rd Week in Ordinary Time (B)-The Presentation of the B.V.M. : Thursday, 21st November 2024

The first mention of The Presentation was a reference to a church dedicated to Mary in Jerusalem in the mid-sixth century, but did not enter the liturgical tradition of the East until much later. The feast was not found in the West until the 9th century in a few monastic communities in Southern Italy.

This was only introduced to the universal Church, at the end of the 15th century, but later dropped from the calendar and then restored again at the end of the 16th century. After the II Vatican Council, the Feast was regarded as a Memorial.

The reason for this is the fact that it is not found in the Gospels but rather, only in some of the apocryphal literature of the 2nd century, in which Mary is said to have been brought to the temple at the age of 3 to be dedicated to the Lord. Nonetheless, we celebrate the foundational belief that Mary fully belonged to God from the time of her childhood. In some way, it connects us to Mary’s Immaculate Conception—that is, God set her apart from the very beginning for the role she would play in human history as the Mother of Christ. To be ‘set apart’ is to be holy—to play the role that God gives us. We too should dedicate ourselves completely to be holy and play the role that God desires for us as His disciples.

Lord, You gave us Mary as ‘the first disciple,’ may her gracious example edify us to be better disciples.