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“HONEY FROM THE ROCK”

Daily Reflections

Tuesday, 21^stNovember 2017,

Thirty Third Week in Ordinary Time

The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Zech 2:14-17;

Lk 1:46-55;

Mt 12:46-50

A PERFECT OFFERING!

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple of Jerusalem. It is very probable that the holy prophet Simeon and the prophetess Anna, who witnessed the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, as we read in the second chapter of the Gospel of St Luke had known his Mother as a little girl in the Temple and observed her truly unique sanctity. The consecration of Mary to God presented all the conditions of the most perfect sacrifice: it was prompt, generous, joyous, un-regretted, without reservation. How agreeable it must have been to God! May our consecration of ourselves to God be made under her patronage, assisted by her powerful intercession and united with her ineffable merit.

In the first reading God calls us to rejoice because He is coming to dwell among us. In the Old Testament the expression “daughter of Zion”, was one of the many names for the people of God. When we use it today in our liturgy, we use it to refer to the Church. It also refers to the Mother of God in a special way because she was close to Jesus and is a perfect example of doing the will of God. In the Gospel, the visit of his mother and brothers gives Jesus an occasion to explain the value of doing God’s will. What does it mean to "do" His will? Doing God's will means to act in accord with what you know pleases Him. His Word must rule in our hearts. Secondly, he extends his family to the whole world. Christians get the membership in God’s family not by birth, gender, but by doing the will of God. Thirdly, to do God's will we must be in a good relationship with him. The thing that ruins our relationship with God is sin. To restore our relationship with God we need to continually admit our faults and turn away from them. In other words we must confess our sins and repent. God is ever ready to accept us but are we ready to do his will and go back to his fold?

Prayer: O Mary, teach us to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God. Amen.