The Life of Mary (10): The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

Rituals help us we stay connected with our own lives and the bigger life-story. When I look back on the services in which we dedicated our sons to God, I remember looking at them with love, hope, and a sense of needing God’s help to parent them faithfully.

My Prayer:

God, my sons are grown men now, but I still ask that my love for them will help them to know and follow You in the ways that most fit with who You created them to be(come).

Scriptural Touchstones:

When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” Luke 2:22-24 (NRSV)

Invitation To Pray:

Who has been entrusted into your care? As you feel your love for them, what prayers are emerging in your body, mind, heart, and imagination? Pray them now.

Photos:

The presentation of Jesus in Temple in the Life of the Virgin Window (1217-1220) located in the south choir aisle at the Chartres Cathedral in France. This scene is on the right of the sixth row from the bottom.