Reflection of the Presentation of the Lord

In September, a mom walked her daughter to her first day of school.  That evening, Mom and Dad opened a re-sealable plastic bag that the teacher had given to each parent.  Inside was a packet of Barry’s tea, a cotton ball, and a note:

Dear Parents,

Time flies!  They’ve made it to school!  Welcome to what I think will be a promising  year . . .  I want to thank you for entrusting your child to me.  I’ll do my best to be your child’s companion in learning.

After you take a deep breath and wipe your tears, make yourself a nice, warm cup of tea.  Then put your feet up and relax.  Hold the cotton ball in your hands.  The softness will help you recall the gentle spirit of your child.  I will work alongside you this year to help your child grow.

Sincerely,

Mrs. M.

These two parents had no doubt that their daughter would have extraordinary year in school!

Being a parent or teacher is an extraordinary trust: to accompany a child on his or her journey to adulthood requires total sacrifice and patience.  To raise and teach a child is an experience of both incredible joy and devastating heartbreak – but as most parents and teachers will tell you, there is nothing more fulfilling than being a mom or dad or a teacher.  Mrs. M understands the vocation of parenthood and realizes the role that all of us play in creating a nurturing, affirming environment for children to learn and grow.  Today’s Solemnity of the Presentation of the Lord, celebrated 40 days after Jesus’ birth, celebrates the challenges and joys of family.  We all have such hopes and dreams for our children – and we all know too well that life can be cruel to dreams and that fragile hopes are easily shattered, and we want to protect our sons and daughters from such realities.  We want the best for our children and we’re willing to move any mountain and slay any dragon for them.  Joseph and Mary confront those same hopes and fears in today’s gospel.   Every parent’s life is “pieced” with turmoil, disappointment, illness, desperation, and fear.

Mary and Joseph understood all this very well. And that’s why we find them in Sunday’s Gospel taking their tiny new baby on the difficult journey up to Jerusalem.  They knew that everything they’d ever say or do could touch the spirit of their child – for good or ill.  So they went to the temple, not just to do the customary rituals, but to commit their lives to handing on to Jesus the very best of what was in them – with God’s help.  We have no written record of their subsequent life as a family.  We have only the man Jesus, whose life speaks for itself, and speaks eloquently for his family.

Certainly every mom and dad knows what Mary and Joseph went through.  We want our sons and daughters to embrace and be embraced by the love we have known and seek to know better; we want them to be grasped by the hand of God who has grasped us by the hand.  It is as a family that children can best experience that love in their lives.  Oh, we dream all kinds of dreams for our children – but the most important dream we can dream for them, the most important gift we can give them, is this: faith in the God who made them, faith in the God who loves them, faith in the God who will be with them on their road to eternity.