Presenting Our Children in the Temple

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Today, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.  This celebration commemorates the day when the Messiah, Jesus Christ, was dedicated in the Temple at Jerusalem according to the Law of Moses.  On the fortieth day after birth, each first-born Jewish male was presented for service to the Lord.  It makes sense that Jesus was presented and consecrated in this way since He was both the first-born of Mary and the Eternal Son of God.  This moment enables the Temple to become Jesus' natural and comfortable habitat, and it marks the first step in allowing the Him to increase "in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52).

Rembrandt, Simeon's Song of Praise (1631)
Although we are not still bound by the Law of Moses, it is good and right for Christian parents to follow the same process for our children and our families.  If parents desire that the place of worship, the Church, becomes a natural and comfortable habitat for their children, then they must act accordingly.  If parents desire that their children remain present in the place of worship throughout adolescence and adulthood, then they must begin forming habits that will facilitate those wishes. In short, parents must present their children to the Church in order for children to understand that religious life is not out of the ordinary.  Indeed, it is the most "normal" thing that they can do to increase "in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man."  This cannot be limited only to those key sacramental moments such as Baptism, Confirmation, and First Holy Communion.  It must be an ongoing presentation.  Parents must make it a priority to bring children, even when it is not convenient or easy, to that place wherein they can be transformed for a better, holier life.  Parents must do this again and again, day after day, week after week at Sunday Mass.

There is no other way to provide for our children those "best things" that we all want them to have without beginning by presenting them to Our Lord in His Church.  Only then will our hearts be filled when they choose to take up the life of sitting in the Church of their own accord, listening to Her teaching, and passing it on to others.  I pray that you will join me in presenting our children in the Temple of the New Covenant, our parish church, on a daily basis!

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