Tuesday, February 01, 2011

The Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple


Wednesday is the feast of the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple. While at the Temple with Joseph and the Child Jesus, Simeon tells Our Lady, "And your own soul, a sword shall pierce."

This gives us the image of Our Lady of Sorrows and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, pierced by a sword.

Has your heart ever been pierced by a sword?  The sword of sadness or disappointment so commonly pierces our souls today.  The world has become a crass and vulgar place where persecution of believers is popular entertainment and  having deeply held religious beliefs is seen as passe.

Like Mary at the foot of the cross, we undergo much pain and suffering in this life.  Let's join our sufferings with hers and ask Christ to give us the strength to endure.

Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us! 

Hat tip to John Michael Talbot

4 comments:

TACParent said...

Beautiful, yet kind of sad, picture. Makes one think.

Staying in Balance said...

It does. I think we can relate to it because of the suffering we all endure.

Anonymous said...

Relevant to today and anytime. Thanks for sharing this. BTW: I like your consistency with posting. It makes a good example some of us "flaky bloggers" can follow!

Staying in Balance said...

Thanks! The secret to my regularity of posting is the ability of blogger to schedule posts ahead of time. That really helps!

Dymphna's favorite quotes


"Slavery ended in medieval Europe only because the church extended its sacraments to all slaves and then managed to impose a ban on the enslavement of Christians (and of Jews). Within the context of medieval Europe, that prohibition was effectively a rule of universal abolition. "— Rodney Stark

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