Here again is a mystery so great I don't know how to get inside it or what to make of it with my rational intellect. I can only look at it. Did Jesus understand what was being done to him? Or did Jesus, being fully human, have only an infant's understanding as the knife cut him in that most intimate way? Beats me. All I know is that, in the pain of circumcision, Y'shua enters into the covenant of his fathers and takes his place as one of the children of Israel. It's a thing done to and for him, as it's done to and for all the sons of Israel. It is, for Jews, a glad thing. And it's also a painful thing, reminding us (not the child, who will not remember it) of the cost of discipleship and the need for circumcision of the heart.
That's a striking thing, since this child, above all, needs no circumcision of heart or anything else. But in a haunting foreshadow, he enters into and bears the pain, not for his sake, but for ours. God the Infant sheds his first blood for our salvation: a down payment on a great gift he will deliver in full on Calvary. And as he does so, the prophets Simeon and Anna foretell strange things to his mother. Are they warnings or consolations? Or both? He will be the fall and rise of many in Israel. Light of Revelation to the Gentiles. Glory of Israel. And a sword will pierce her heart, too. She, like he, will have to "increase in wisdom" (Luke 2:52) to be able to bear the great sorrow they are tasting today. Like her Son, she doesn't fully understand. But she is, like her Son, still saying "Yes" to God. And it's that Yes, more than understanding, that God desires most from us.
Print Edition: May 19, 2013
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The circumcision and the presentation are different events although often conflated… one happens about eight days after his birth, along with his naming… the other happens about forty days after his birth.
I chose to bring them together for this meditation. That’s one of the nice things about the Rosary. It’s private devotion. You can do as you like.
The second Joyous Mystery is the Presentation. Never linked with Circumcision in the rosary. We used to have a specific Feast of the Circumcision on 1 Jan but that was changed after V II.
Thank you for this reflection. While I know that circumcision was the sign of the old covenant, I often find myself thinking, “Why? What a strange thing.” This gives me another way to look at it.
Perelandra: How often do you pray the Rosary? How could Presentation occur before the Nativity?
Silica: Mary knew the rite of circumcision was to remove original sin, but she also knew Jesus did not require it. She asked Almighty God if it should be done. He responded: “My Daughter and my Dove, do not let thy heart be afflicted because thy Son is to be subjected to the knife and to the pains of circumcision. I have sent Him in to the world as an example, that he put an end to the law of Moses by entirely fulfilling it (Matthew 5:17)...Resign thyself, then, to the shedding of his blood and willingly yield to Me the first fruits of the eternal salvation of men.” The words are from my favorite private revelation, The Mystical City of God by Venerable Mother Mary of Agreda. It is the best source to learn everything about the Holy Family, The only thing Mary did not know when she was born was that she would become His Mother,
When praying this the fourth Joyful Mystery, one often thinks of faithfulness. Simeon and Anna were obediently faithful for a lifetime for the fulfillment of God’s promise. God is also faithful to His promise—both to individuals and to nations. That is good to remember when one falters in faith or trust.
Why do you associate sorrow with a joyous mystery? Lacking fullment isn’t neccessarily a reason to be sorrowfull; this is even moreso the case for those who have some measure of faith already.
Bob: Thank you for your insight, though I wasn’t thinking so much about Jesus in particular as much as circumcision for all Jews - it has always struck me as a strange thing for God to “pick” as the sign for his Chosen People. Partly because I’m a mere human who can’t comprehend the mind of God, partly because as a woman I wouldn’t have been able to “participate,” as it were, and partly because I live in the here and now and many ancient cultural and religious practices seem flat-out weird to me.
I always think of Simeon…how when everyone else was waiting for a knight in shining armour to come and save them, Simeon recognized in this tiny, helpless child, the Savior of the World. How awesome that he got to see the prophecy he had been shown, fulfilled. And how vindicated did Mary feel to know that someone else “knew”...she wasn’t crazy. This child, her son, really WAS the Messiah.
I am also struck by how this is a foreshadowing of the Eucharist. Here is our Lord, being offered up to His Father, just as He is at every Mass.
Strange is a good word to describe Jesus and walking His Way. thanks for this meditation! I am current ly reading Father Robert Barron’s book “the Strangest way walking the Christian path”. This fits in perfectly.
Five times I signed up for Marks program, but never received anything in my email to respond to. I want very much to join. Can you tell me what I need to do?
Thank you.
Peggy: What program?
Sorry, it was the Jimmy Akin program.
Wrong church “and” wrong pew :)
I have to laugh at all those movies that try to conjecture about the life of Mary before she was betrothed to Joseph. Joachim and Anne took her to live in the Temple of Jerusalem when she reached the age of three. God exalted her as the true living ark of the new covenant. Joachim died shortly after and Anne died when Mary was 12. Before she died she was told that her daughter was to be the mother of the Savior. When Mary entered the Temple, Simeon assigned her to her teachers one of whom was the prophetess Anne. They were both overjoyed by the presentation of Our Lord in the Temple by their protege, but Simeon said a sword would pierce her heart.
Dear Bob,
Everything in your post may be dead on accurate but basically, we have little that can be verified about the Blessed Mother’s life before she was betrothed to Joseph.
I’m a big fan of “pius traditions” about Our Lady & the saints.I believe there is much truth amid the garnishments.But I don’t know that I’d laugh at films which try to “conjecture” things that can’t be proven. At least it’s a gesture by the film maker in these present, hostile -to -religion days.
The Presentation has been a mystery I have been meditating on for many years now. Usually when you meditate on things alot God gives you little insights but in this mystery there is one line I keep thinking about and praying about and nothing has come yet. It is Simeon addressing Mary - “And you yourself a sword shall pierce SO THE SECRET THOUGHTS OF MANY MAY BE LAID BARE.” Some people think the sword is the sorrow of seeing Jesus crucified which it may be, but what are these “secret thoughts of many” and how is any thought “secret” from God? And when and how were they laid bare at the crucifixion? Sometimes I wonder if this event has even occurred yet since Mary went to heaven body and soul - is it possible it will involve an act that hasn’t taken place yet and Mary will pour out, by a sword to the heart, all the prayers made to her as intercessor with Jesus like Jesus poured out His own blood? If anyone has received any light on this or knows of any teaching on this I would greatly appreciate their sharing it! Thanks.
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