Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

One

Today is the Feast of the Presentation, the Fourth Joyful Mystery. 

The Law of Moses commanded that forty days after the birth of the firstborn son, he must be brought to the Tent of Meeting and then the temple to be consecrated to the Lord. So, forty days after the birth of Jesus, Joseph, and Mary brought him from Bethlehem to the Temple in Jerusalem. I bet you never thought of the Holy Family still in Bethlehem on February 2nd and that the decree of Herod to kill all the baby boys in the district of Bethlehem and the Flight to Egypt all took place after this. That’s why this used to be the last day of the Christmas season. 

This is the Fourth Joyful Mystery, when Simeon, inspired by the Holy Spirit took Jesus in his arms and said, “Now, Lord, you can let your servant go in peace, just as you promised; because my eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared for all the nations to see, a light to enlighten the pagans and the glory of your people Israel.”

Then, turning to Mary he said, “You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected - and a sword will pierce your own soul too so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.”

Two

Jesus is the Redeemer and Mary is the Co-Redemptrix, the woman united with the Redeemer in His saving mission. 

Immediately after Satan gained power over this world by sin, God foretold of his defeat. In Genesis 3:15 God confronted the Devil saying, “I will make enemies of you and the Woman, and your offspring and her offspring; She will crush your head while you lie in wait for her heel.” Genesis 3:15

The Catechism (410) says this is the first announcement of the Redeemer and of a battle between Satan and the Woman and of the final victory of Jesus Christ. Jesus and Mary are united in a mission to bring to a final end the reign of Satan in this world and set free all those he holds in slavery by sin and the fear of death. 

St. Maximilian Kolbe wrote, “Modern times are dominated by Satan and will be more so in the future. The conflict with hell cannot be engaged by men, even the most clever. The lmmaculata alone has from God the promise of victory over Satan. However, assumed into heaven, the Mother of God now requires our cooperation. She seeks souls who will consecrate themselves entirely to her, who will become in her hands effective instruments for the defeat of Satan and the spreading of God’s kingdom upon earth.” 

Since 1991 I have felt this call to join Jesus and Mary in this mission to rescue souls. Now I ask you to join us in this rescue mission. 

Three

The first step is to consecrate yourself to Mary.  

St. Maximilian Kolbe writes, “Our goal is to win the whole world and every single soul who now lives or will live until the end of the world for the Immaculata, and through her for the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus…To do this we must become instruments of the Immaculata, so that she herself may act in us, we must give ourselves to her without limits.  First of all, we must belong to her, deepen our unlimited gift of ourselves to her, tighten the bond of love with her, become her herself, so that she may act through us and in our souls. This is a most crucial condition. She will act through us only insofar as we belong to her…We must belong to her without limits.”

At Fatima Our Lady said, “God wants to establish in the world devotion, that is, Consecration to My Immaculate Heart – wanting to save it by this means.”

As I said yesterday, if you are consecrated to Mary, then you have given everything to her, your life, your prayer, all your good works, all your suffering, and finally, your death. When you consecrate yourself to Mary, she becomes your spiritual investment broker for all your spiritual treasures. And those are primarily the treasures of prayer, work, and suffering. All the spiritual merit, all the spiritual wealth you get from praying, working, and suffering, when we consecrate ourselves to Mary, we give these to Her and we say, “Please use these in a way that will help get the most people to heaven.” 

Now, what is so great about this is that even if you forget to offer things up or are in so much pain or mental anguish that you forget or just can’t offer it up, Our Lady is receiving our spiritual investment and she is applying it where She sees best. 

You don’t need to make your spiritual investment decisions for them to be made wisely when you have consecrated yourself to Mary and she is doing it for you. 

Four

It is not enough to consecrate yourself to Mary. We must live the consecration.

That means to live in imitation of Jesus as he grew up under the care, protection, and education of Mary. Live in complete dependence on Mary as a little child depending on its mother, moment to moment day after day, just like Jesus did. This, according to Montfort, is the Secret of Mary.    

Remember, the primary instrument through the Holy Spirit works to form Jesus in you is Mary. So, learn to live in her presence. Cultivate an awareness of the presence of Mary at all times. Every time you see a picture, a medal, or a statue of Mary let it remind you she is with you.

Then talk with her. Ask her what to do. Wait for her inspirations and follow them the best you can. Constantly invite Mary into your life and into your soul to teach you to be more and more like Jesus.  

Again, to live in complete dependence on Mary is complete dependence upon the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit carries out his mission through her.

Five

If we want to help Jesus and Mary in this rescue mission, then we must do what Our Lady tells us and pray the Rosary every day.

In every approved apparition of Mary in the 20th and 21st Century, Our Lady has made it clear the weapon that defeats Satan is the Rosary and She is asking us to take up our weapon and fight. From Lepanto, to Viena, to Austria in the 1950s, Brazil in the 1960’s, the Philippines in 1986 and Nigeria in 2014 – whenever the children of Our Lady are under attack, if they take up the Rosary, Our Lady comes down and sends the enemy packing. 

But it is not enough to pray the Rosary yourself. Be an Apostle of the Rosary. We are in a spiritual battle of light and darkness, good and evil. This is not a fictional story. This is reality. Your children and grandchildren and the whole world will be saved or destroyed based on whether we answer the call of Our Lady to pray the Rosary, and that is not an understatement. 

So what am I saying? The time to be timid and worried about the opinions of others has to stop now. Just invite people to pray the Rosary with you. Share this Rosary Podcast with someone. Help others take up their weapons get into the battle and do the world some good. 

At Fatima and again at Akita Our Lady said, "Pray very much the prayers of the Rosary. I alone am able still to save you from the calamites which approach. Those who place their confidence in me will be saved."