33rd Week in Ordinary Time : Tuesday 21st November 2023

The Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a liturgical feast celebrated by the Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox, emphasising the holiness conferred on Mary from the beginning of her life, continued through her early childhood and beyond. It celebrates the truth presented through a beautiful story found in the Protoevangelium of James or the Gospel of St James, the day on which Mary, while still an infant, was brought to the temple in Jerusalem to be consecrated to God, and “in the fullness of time”, with her Fiat at the Annunciation, she becomes the Theotokos, the Mother of God.

The First Reading from the prophet Zechariah is a song of praise and rejoicing for Israel, announcing that Yahweh will come and dwell among the ‘Daughter of Zion’, foreshadowing that the salvific plan of God to save His people will be made possible in and through the person of Mary with her permission and full cooperation.

Matthew’s Gospel reading concerns what constitutes the true family of Jesus. Jesus says: “Anyone who does the will of My Father in Heaven, he is My brother, sister, and mother”. As disciples of Jesus, we belong to a new family with stronger ties, not determined by blood and genealogy, but transcended and bound in love and obedience to God and committed to living out the Gospel Way of Life.

Lord, help us imitate the Virgin Mary and heed her advice: “Do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5).