euphemos

If you accept, as I do, that the Blessed Virgin Mary was consecrated to virginal service in the temple, then it puts a new light on the Presentation of our Lord at the Temple celebrated in the Joyful mysteries of the Rosary.

Assuming that her consecrated service was unique, it would have been notable to those like Simeon and Anna who spent a lot of time at the temple. Assuming that her consecrated was not unique, there would have been not only those two blessed souls aware of her situation, but also an assortment of others likewise consecrated to service.

Joseph resolved to divorce Mary quietly when he found out she was pregnant, and it was only by the direct intervention of an angel of the Lord that he was relieved of his fear. Without the benefit of that intervention, I can only imagine her reception upon return to the temple.

Unless the people of that time were far less cynical, and far more charitable than the people of our time, it seems likely the story could have been expected to go something like this:

Psst… see that woman with the child? Yeah, she used to be a consecrated virgin. Guess that didn’t work out so much, huh? (wink, wink, nudge nudge) Can you believe she has the nerve to show her face in the temple? It’s going to cost a lot more than a couple of birds for her purification! Do you think we ought to chase those sinners out of here with a scourge? I’ve got one here that I use to keep the sheep in line.

What incredible courage and humility Mary demonstrated by coming to the temple in obedience to the law.

And what a blessing Simeon and Anna’s warm reception must have been! Joseph and Mary, in their humility, were obedient to the word of God. God, in his goodness, amazed Joseph and Mary with consolations from the Holy Spirit. Isn’t that just like our heavenly Father?

One of the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary meditates upon the finding of Jesus in the temple.

Luke 2:41-52
Each year his parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.

Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers.

When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them.

He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced [in] wisdom and age and favor before God and man.

For a long time, I didn’t even question why this would be a joyful mystery. I mean it’s joyful because you found your son, and it is a mystery because it’s something his mother kept in her heart and pondered, so what’s there to question?

Then, one day, as I hauled my stinking carcass down the road on a hot Texas jog, it occurred to me that perhaps I should wonder why it is a joyful mystery. I’ve left a child at a restaurant, and it isn’t exactly joyful. Embarrassing and terrifying, yes, but not especially joyful. Even the finding is not overwhelmingly characterized as joyful, since it is typically tempered by some degree of blame assignment (as it was in the temple). Of course any parent would be overjoyed that the child they lost is found, but the whole experience doesn’t exactly fall in the “joyful” category.

In meditating upon these with the Blessed Mother, and considering them in my heart as she did in hers, it suddenly became clear:

The finding in the temple is joyful because Jesus is explicitly accepting his divine sonship; he is affirming, through his words and actions, the testimony that Mary and Joseph shared with him about his birth and nature. The child that Mary and Joseph presented in the temple has returned there of his own volition. What greater joy can any parents experience than for as child to claim as their own the spiritual gifts they’ve presented from the treasury of their hearts?