Traffic is already getting heavy on the interstates and Mass Pike. I had to run some errands out to Target and Lowe's. Had I been asked to do so the day after Thanksgiving rather than the day before the vow of holy obedience would have had to be invoked.
Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Zech 2:14-17
Mt 12:46-50
Like the Memorial of Sts. Ann and Joachim, the narrative of
the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary comes from the pious and
fundamentally unreliable Protoevangelium
of James. The celebration first appeared in the East
around the 7th century. It appeared in
the Western Church in the 14th century, was stricken from the calendar by Pius
V, who reigned from 1566 to 1572, and was reintroduced in 1585 by Sixtus V. This feast, like the aforementioned memorial
of Ann and Joachim, fills what would
otherwise be a pious lacuna and provides Mary, whose childhood is otherwise
hidden, with a history to precede her
appearance in the synoptics.
The first reading from Zechariah is celebratory in the
extreme. As noted in the Jewish Study Bible "Rabbinic Judaism interpreted many of the
texts in Zechariah in relation to the Messianic time to come." Thus it is no surprise to read in the same
source that "The early Christian
readers interpreted many verses in Zechariah in Christological
terms."
Today in Synagogues this particular reading from Zechariah marks
the beginning of the long haftorah,
the reading following the Torah, for the first Sabbath of Hanukkah. This year Hanukkah begins on Saturday evening
December 8. On Saturday morning December
15, Jews throughout the world will hear,
"Sing and rejoice O daughter Zion!
See I am coming to dwell among you. . . "
The ecstasy in the Lord's immanence jumps off the page. The joyous hope of the writer is shared with
the people. That joy is something of a
contrast to the tension in the Gospel though, in fact, the tension is more
perceived than real. There is no hostility or rejection or anger in Jesus' reply
to the anonymous someone who informed him of his family's presence, unless the reader or commentator wants it to
be there.
In the first reading we heard, "Many nations shall join
themselves to the Lord on that day and they shall be his people and he shall
dwell among them." Jesus' response
here confirms that prophecy.
"Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and
sister, and mother." Those who do
the will of the heavenly Father are those who join themselves to the Lord. They become his people and he dwells among
them.
The prophecy of Zechariah has been fulfilled. The Lord dwells among us, and nourishes us with
his Body and Blood. In that light can we
do anything other than sing and rejoice?
The photos are from autumns past, mostly at Gloucester.
The first is not from Gloucester but rather from Longwood Gardens just outside Philadelphia. I'm giving a retreat in Baltimore in two weeks. Will drive to my sister's in Delaware a day earlier than necessary so as to fit in a trip there on the way south.
This is a view of Philadelphia at sunset a few autumns ago when the Jesuit physicians had their annual meeting at St. Joseph's University. The guest house was lacking space. I was quite pleased to stay at the old Holiday Inn on City Line.
This was the view.
Pine cones at Gloucester.
Some of the homes near Niles Pond (fresh water) near the entrance to the retreat house in Gloucester. I walked by those homes almost daily during the long retreat as a novice.
Autumn leaves at sunset somewhere on the grounds at Gloucester.
The view of the Atlantic Ocean from "The Rocks" at the retreat house in Gloucester. I hope to get up there for a few days at some point simply to wander with the camera.
Have a Blessed Thanksgiving.
+Fr. Jack, SJ, MD
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