HOLINESS A GIFT AND A TASK

20161121 HOLINESS A GIFT AND A TASK

Zechariah 2:14-17

Sing, rejoice,
daughter of Zion;
for I am coming
to dwell in the middle of you
– it is the Lord who speaks.
Many nations will join the Lord,
on that day;
they will become his people.
But he will remain among you,
and you will know that the Lord of Hosts has sent me to you.

But the Lord will hold Judah
as his portion in the Holy Land,
and again make Jerusalem his very own.
Let all mankind be silent before the Lord!
For he is awaking and is coming from his holy dwelling.

Responsorial Luke 1:46-55

RESPONSE:
The Almighty works marvels for me.
Holy is his name!

My soul glorifies the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God,

my Saviour.

He looks on his servant in her nothingness;
henceforth all ages will call

me blessed.
The Almighty works marvels for me.
Holy his name!

His mercy is from age to age,
on those who fear him.

He puts forth his arm in strength
and scatters the proud-hearted.

He casts the mighty from their thrones and raises the lowly.

He fills the starving with good things, sends the rich away empty.

He protects Israel, his servant,
remembering his mercy,
the mercy promised to our fathers,
to Abraham and his sons for ever.

Matthew 12:46-50

Jesus was speaking to the crowds when his mother and his brothers appeared; they were standing outside and were anxious to have a word with him.

But to the man who told him this Jesus replied,

‘Who is my mother?

Who are my brothers?’

And stretching out his hand towards his disciples he said,

• ‘Here are my mother and my brothers.

• Anyone who does the will of my

Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.’

HOLINESS A GIFT AND A TASK

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [  Zechariah 2:14-17; Mt 12:46-50   ]

The Feast of the Presentation of our Lady is celebrated more by the Eastern Church than the Latin Church.  It was celebrated as early as the 6^th century in Jerusalem when a church was built to commemorate this mystery in the life of Mary.  In fact, the Western Church began to celebrate this feast only in the 11^th century, and it even disappeared after some time until it resurfaced to be celebrated with the rank of a “memoria” in the universal church.  The most likely reason why this event is not celebrated as a Feast in the liturgical calendar is due to the fact that it is not recorded in scriptures except in the apocryphal literature, which is considered ‘unhistorical’.  The Protoevangelium of James tells us that Anne and Joachim offered Mary to God in the Temple when she was three years old, fulfilling a promise made to God when Anne was still childless.

Why does the Church then celebrate this event when it is judged to be dubious?  The truth is that regardless of the historicity of this event, the theological significance is of great importance to the Church.  The verifiability of this event might not be established but it does underscore that God graced Mary from the beginning so that she could make an effective response to the invitation of God to be the mother of Jesus.  By so doing, it reinforces the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, the Incarnation and the Assumption.  What this mystery celebrates is that the grace of God was with Mary right from the start of her life, including her childhood, and continues right through to the last days of her life.

That Mary was graced and blessed by God is what the first reading from the prophet Zechariah wants to underscore.  Mary, who is considered the mother of the Church, a member of the Anawim, the poor of Israel, the daughter of Zion, was given the promise of God that He would dwell in her.  She would be the temple of God not made by human hands but by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. “Sing, rejoice, daughter of Zion; for I am coming to dwell in the middle of you.”   Of course, the Church wants to underscore that holiness is not human effort alone but by the grace of God.  This is in agreement with the Protestants’ fundamental doctrine of justification by grace alone.

This is what we also profess, that Mary was also graced by God unconditionally and justified at her conception.  The prophet said, “But the Lord will hold Judah as his portion in the Holy Land, and again make Jerusalem his very own. Let all mankind be silent before the Lord! For he is awakening and is coming from his holy dwelling.”  This, too, was what Mary proclaimed in the Magnificat when she said, “My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour.  The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name! He looks on his servant in her nothingness; henceforth all ages will call me blessed. The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy his name!”  Nowhere and never did Mary claim holiness because of her merits.  It was all the grace of God.  This truth must be reiterated.  Mary was first and foremost holy because of the primacy of grace, not good works.

But how can we be so sure? We can see from the effects of the grace of God in her life.  The gift of holiness, whilst totally dependent on the grace of God, also calls for our cooperation.  We cannot just speak of God’s grace without human cooperation or at least a human response.  God created us in freedom to accept or reject His love and His grace.  God does not impose His love on us.  It is true in any friendship.  We can only offer our gift of friendship or assistance, but if the recipient does not respond, there is nothing we can do except to continue loving them till one day they can find the capacity to respond.  In the case of Mary, she was always docile to the grace of God.  That is why God’s grace worked marvelously in her life, producing in her a New Creation and for us, the mother of grace.

Indeed, we can certainly see how at every step of her life, Mary said “Yes” to God.  She was always docile to the will of God.  “Behold the handmaid of the Lord.  Let it be done to me according to your word.”  (LK 1:38)  In today’s gospel, Jesus praised Mary to be the model of one who does the Word of God.  She is most fit to be the mother of Jesus because she is one who hears the Word of God and does it. Jesus said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sisters and mother.”   Anyone who is a true disciple of the Lord is a relative of Jesus.  For Mary, because she conceived the Word of God in her heart, she could also conceive Jesus in the flesh.  Without which, she would not have been able to give a positive response to the Angel’s invitation to accept God’s call for her to be the mother of Jesus.

The feast of the Presentation of Mary therefore declares that Mary, graced from her conception, lived out her entire life in cooperation with God’s grace by doing His will.   Hence, she was consecrated to God and given to Him for His service.  The Presentation of Mary at the Temple therefore is symbolic even if it might not be historical that Mary was always one with God in everything, seeking and endeavouring to do His holy will, even sharing in Christ’s sufferings in His ministry, passion and death on the cross.

What does it mean for us?  We, too, whilst not graced at our conception like Mary, are also given the same grace of God at our baptism.  Through the sacrament of baptism, we are configured in Christ, and the Holy Spirit also overshadows and dwells in us. We too have been given the grace of God to grow in holiness.  We did not merit anything to be baptized.  Baptism is a gift from Christ and His church.   Baptism is also a call to holiness of life.  Once baptized, we are consecrated to God, like Mary.   But like Mary, what do we do with the grace of God received at baptism?  Not only at baptism, but also at the Eucharist, confirmation, matrimony or ordination!  Have we cooperated with the grace of God?  Mary was not just a recipient of grace but she received the grace to be a good disciple of our Lord.  Could what was said of Mary be said of us, that we hear the Word of God and act on it?  Unless we cooperate with God’s grace given to us through the sacraments we receive, then we would have received the grace of God in vain.

Consequently, in celebrating this mystery of our Lady, we must re-consecrate ourselves to the Lord.  We must seek to grow the grace of holiness given to us at baptism and allow this grace to flourish, deepen and strengthen over the years of our lives.  We must dedicate ourselves to be a true disciple of the Lord by listening and contemplating on His word, imbibing in them like Mary, pondering it in our hearts so that His word could be given birth in life- giving actions in daily living.   Only by living out the life of Mary at every stage of our life could we say that we have truly cooperated with the grace of God given to us at baptism and this gift continues through the rest of our lives.

Secondly, it behooves us to pay attention to the importance of formation of young people, especially children under our care.  The grace of God works on them not when they have grown up and become adults.  Rather, it was already at work in their lives from the moment they were conceived in the womb of their mothers.  So it is important that right from the start, they must already feel the love of God in their being, through their mothers’ love and nurturing disposition.  We must teach our children at a very tender age to learn how to talk to Jesus, how to bring Jesus into their lives.  No one is too young to pray to Jesus.  We must teach them how to love and how to serve God and do His will.  If we plant these seeds in them, then we are actually helping them to grow the grace of God in them.

But what better way to help the grace of God to unfold in our children than the way Anne and Joachim helped Mary to develop the grace of God within her?  We must walk the talk.  We must set the example.  We must first take holiness of life seriously.  No one is converted by words alone but by example.  Let us be mentors of those who have consecrated their lives to Jesus.  Let us be examples of holiness in word and deed.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved