The fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary is the Presentation in the Temple. This mystery is an invitation to meditate on the occasion when Joseph and Mary, in obedience to the law, brought the baby Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem. The fact that this event is included in the joyful mysteries has often made given me pause. Was it joyous for Joseph to bring the baby entrusted to his protection into Jerusalem when he had been warned of the malicious intent of the current rulers? Was it joyous for Mary to hear that her son was a sign that would be contradicted and that her own heart would be pierced as with a sword?
This prophecy of Simeon’s is counted as one of the Seven Sorrow of Mary. Given all of this, why is this mystery still considered a joyful one? Was it just a matter of needing five mysteries associated with the birth and childhood of Jesus? Or might there actually be something joyous in this occasion despite the inherent sorrows. Perhaps the answer lies in looking at why Joseph and Mary presented Jesus in the Temple. The simple answer is that they were obedient. According to Luke, “When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord…” (Luke 2:22). Joseph and Mary were willing submitting themselves to the dictates of the law as an act of faithfulness. This act of obedience was virtuous and no matter what resulted from it, there was a joy in having once more done what was good and right.
There is a joy in obedience because it is an astonishingly free act. My will, which naturally inclines to itself, is submitting itself to the other. One of the radically unique things about the human person is our ability to choose against our instinct. When hungry, I can choose to fast. Exercising this freedom is part of the way that humans manifest the image of God who is a free being.
Obedience is also a source of joy because it allows me to imitate Jesus Christ, who, himself, was obedient. Fr. Ranieo Cantalamessa writes, “Obedience covers the whole life of Jesus. If St. Paul and the Letter to the Hebrews highlight the importance of obedience in the death of Jesus (cf. Phil 2:8; Heb 5:8), St. John and the Synoptics complete the picture by giving importance to the place obedience played daily in the life of Jesus. ‘My food,’ says Jesus in St. John’s Gospel, ‘is to do the will of the Father;’ and again: ‘I always do wat pleases Him’ (John 4:34; 8:29).” (Life in Christ pg. 183) The whole of the Christian life is meant to be a living imitation of Jesus Christ and though this is accomplished in a variety of ways depending upon the unique story God is writing in each of our lives, one common thread throughout is obedience. Jesus, who is God, after another one of the joyful mysteries (the Finding in the Temple), “…went down with them (Joseph and Mary) and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.” (Luke 2: 51). His entire salvific mission was one of obedience the Father. Jesus has all authority and yet chooses to submit himself to others.
We too, then, must choose obedience to the will of God, to his holy word, to his commands. In doing so, though, rather than feeling burdened, we feel free. It is in willing obedience that we express our freedom, we become more like Christ and more who we were created to be. In this there is for us, just as there was for Mary at the Presentation, great joy.
Prose for the sake of Poetry 