Today’s Gospel focuses on Joseph and Mary presenting Jesus in the Temple. This passage, from the 2nd chapter of Luke, is typically referred to as The Presentation, the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary.
Below you will find a variety of mediations on this event. These are all taken from meditations I’ve written which focus on this mystery through different aspects of life and imagination. You will the Presentation as seen through the eyes of St. Joseph, the Presentation in light of suffering, the Eucharist, and more. The full meditations (the entire set of Joyful Mysteries for each topic) can be found and downloaded for free as PDFs here. Holy Family, pray for us! St. Simeon the God Receiver, pray for us!!
From The Joyful Mysteries as Seen Through the Eyes of St. Joseph
I accompanied Mary to the temple for the purification that day. We were just about to enter the temple when an older gentleman approached. He asked us if he could hold the baby. He looked like a respectable man, a priest maybe, so we allowed him to hold Jesus.
His gray eyes glowed as he lifted the child from his mothers’ arms. He just held Jesus up at arms length and stared at Him for a very long time. I saw tears begin to form in his eyes as his beard broke open to reveal his smile. He began to speak about Jesus to us yet he never took his eyes off the child. He said some things that I thought might upset Mary but
she just took it all in and smiled quietly.
From The Joyful Mysteries of Suffering
I live in a world of instant gratification. I can have instant coffee or tea. I can heat a meal in
seconds. I can find an answer to a question through a search engine almost instantly. I have my favorite television shows available to watch at my fingertips anytime I want. I can contact my friends thousands of miles away in seconds through texting or social media. If at any time I feel as though these things are not fast enough or they aren’t working, I perceive it as suffering. I live in a world that waits for nothing. I live in a world without patience and a life without patience is one of suffering, instant suffering, so perceived.
Simeon is the epitome of patience. God had revealed to Him that he would see the Savior.
What I’m not told is when Simeon received this revelation. Looking at it through the eyes of the modern world I’d like to think God told him that morning or maybe at least that week. Yet this revelation could have come to him when he was merely a boy.
Lord, help me to be patient and to endure the times of waiting as Simeon did, always trusting Your timing and Your will.
From the Joyful Mysteries of the Family
Mary and Joseph held nothing back from God. They gave Him themselves in following the confusing and frightening path He laid out for them. Through visits from angels and men, fearing for their Son, and becoming homeless refugees, they remained faithful, trusting in God’s plan.
Here again, they hold nothing back. Like Abraham of old, they offer their only Son back to the Lord knowing that God’s plan is often not like our own. In the Presentation we find strength and courage for our family. We are reminded that God has a plan for our good, if only we trust in Him.
Lord, help us to offer our entire family to you. Give us the strength to be like Mary, Joseph, and even Abraham and offer to you that which is most precious to us. Give us comfort in knowing that this gift of our family to You will allow the world around us to echo the words of Simeon, “my eyes have seen the salvation which you prepared”
From the Joyful Mysteries of the Eucharist
Mary fulfilled the requirements of the Law not because of the obligation but because of the love she had for God. Simeon spent his days in the Temple in joyful hope of finally seeing the Savior.
As I sit here before You Jesus, I echo the words of Simeon as he held you in his arms, “my eyes have seen they salvation.” Let me sit here in the quiet of this place holding You in my heart and gazing upon You, my God, in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Allow me, with utter joy, to sit in silence and look upon the Light of the World.
Lord, give me the time and grace to come here to adore You more often. Help me to get past the idea of simply filling an hour. Help me instead to come here out of love and anticipate these visits in joyful hope.
Many of these meditations along with their counterpart mysteries (Sorrowful, Glorious, and Luminous) can be found in my books Rosary Meditations for Real Life, Rosary Meditations for the Family, and a forthcoming Rosary Meditations for Real Life II.
James M. Hahn, Author 