Dear friend:

Today, Subjects·evangeli.net completes the series dedicated to the Joyful Mysteries. So far, we have published:

. "The Annunciation" and / or "The Incarnation of the Son of God" (read more).

. "The Visitation of the Virgin to her cousin Elizabeth" (read more).

. "The Birth of Our Lord” (read more).

. "The finding of Jesus in the temple” (1st Part) (read more).

. "The finding of Jesus in the temple” (2nd Part) (read more).

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The 4th Mystery of Joy is the "solemn mystery": the Temple of Jerusalem had been waiting for God for almost a millennium! That day - the day of the Presentation and Purification -, the Temple could receive God in Person finally, and that was a day of great solemnity (although with little noise, very few noticed it) (read more).

1st) "When the time came for the purification rites" (Lk 2:22). The scene occurs 40 days after the birth of Jesus. Before, at 7, they had already circumcised the Child by giving him the name of "Jesuá" (= he who saves). Now they go to the Temple punctually. Purification? Whose?

Humanly speaking, they could have avoided that ascent to the Temple: it was not strictly necessary to do all that ritual there and, by an understandable "prudence", they could have decided to stay away from Herod ... From the theological point of view, neither Jesus Christ had to be rescued nor did the Virgin need purification. But, there they are! (read more): She is queuing up among the women who undergo the ritual of purification; and Jesus who will be "rescued" through the sacrifice offered "in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons" (Lk 2:24).

2nd) "Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against”" (Lk 2:34). There is the authentic purification !: Mary - the "woman" of the wedding of Cana, the "woman" on the Calvary - is announced that she must detach herself from her Son for the salvation of many. No one sees it (only Simeon and Joseph!), No one notices it, but it hurts: "A sword will pierce your own soul!" (Lk 2:35). The pious Simeon confirms to Mary that Jesus himself is the RESCUE (of humanity) (read more).

And, indeed, on Calvary, Jesus Christ is sacrificed as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn 1:29). To free Old Israel from the slavery of Egypt, Pharaoh’s firstborn son was taken away; to free the New Israel from the slavery of sin, Mary’s firstborn Jesus is "removed" from her (who, above all, is the Only Begotten of the Father) (read more).

3rd) «There was also a prophet, Anna (...); She spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem" (Lk 2:38). At the end we see that those lambs sacrificed in that temple were only an announcement of the authentic Lamb of God; and that the temple in which the lambs were sacrificed was only a shadow of the true TEMPLE of God: Jesus Christ, the Temple destroyed by the hatred of men and rebuilt - in three days - by the Love of God (read more).

Fr. Antoni Carol i Hostench

(General Coordinator of evangeli.net)