The Presentation of Mary on 21 November is an ancient memorial of her belonging to God from childhood. The Gospels do not describe the scene; the Church simply rejoices that the Mother of the Lord was given, wholly, from the first. Dedication is older than our plans for a child; Mary is first a gift, then a Mother. Ask today for a life presented, not withheld, and for households that can dedicate a child to the One who first dedicated himself to us.
Original – Prayer on Fire.
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Gospel
Mass Lectionary · Gospel
Luke 20:27–40
Now some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, approached him. And they questioned him,
saying: “Teacher, Moses wrote for us: If any man’s brother will have died, having a wife, and if he does not have any children, then his brother should take her as his wife, and he should raise up offspring for his brother.
And so there were seven brothers. And the first took a wife, and he died without sons.
And the next one married her, and he also died without a son.
And the third married her, and similarly all seven, and none of them left behind any offspring, and they each died.
Last of all, the woman also died.
In the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be? For certainly all seven had her as a wife.”
And so, Jesus said to them: “The children of this age marry and are given in marriage.
Yet truly, those who shall be held worthy of that age, and of the resurrection from the dead, will neither be married, nor take wives.
For they can no longer die. For they are equal to the Angels, and they are children of God, since they are children of the resurrection.
For in truth, the dead do rise again, as Moses also showed beside the bush, when he called the Lord: ‘The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’
And so he is not the God of the dead, but of the living. For all are alive to him.”
Then some of the scribes, in response, said to him, “Teacher, you have spoken well.”
And they no longer dared to question him about anything.
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Prayer on Fire Gospel Lesson
The feast of the Presentation of Mary reads the Sadducees' question about the resurrection. They do not believe in it. They pose a woman married to seven brothers. Whose wife will she be? He says the sons of this age marry. Those who are considered worthy of that age neither marry nor are given in marriage. They cannot die anymore. They are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
Where this sits
The Presentation remembers Mary offered in the temple. The Gospel chosen is a fight about the life to come.
The living
The question was a trap built on this age's arrangements. He refuses to let the age to come be a continuation of marriage contracts. The resurrection is a different kind of life, not a longer version of this one. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God of the living.
What to take
Do not measure the life to come by the arrangements of this one. He is the God of the living, and that includes the ones we call dead.
Original – Prayer on Fire
Gospel of the Day · Text: Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV) · Mass Lectionary · Gospel
The Mass of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary may also use this Gospel. (Matthew 12:46–50)
Optional memorial Gospel
Matthew 12:46–50
While he was still speaking to the crowds, behold, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak with him.
And someone said to him: “Behold, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, seeking you.”
But responding to the one speaking to him, he said, “Which one is my mother, and who are my brothers?”
And extending his hand to his disciples, he said: “Behold: my mother and my brothers.
For anyone who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
Not the weekday Gospel of the day · Text: Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV) · Matthew 12:46–50
