The Presentation in the Temple

Secular presentation

The fourth joyful mystery

Being devout Jews, Mary and Joseph observe all the appropriate traditions.  Here we see them presenting their baby son Jesus in the Temple.  The idea is that their little boy is a gift from God, so in a sense they present him back to God.  They don't do this because their baby (Jesus) is more special than other children.  It's just what you did if you were religious Jewish parents in their situation.

The parents don't do the presentation themselves, a priest does that.  They just bring the baby along and we see Jospeh here, bringing an offering of two pigeons or maybe doves.

The picture also shows something rather exceptional.  The old man holding the baby is not the priest.  He's just a devout old man, called Simeon.  Simeon is close in his heart to God.  He got that way by reading scripture to study what God has in mind, then by doing that which is appropriate to him at his stage in life, including spending time in prayer at the temple.  You could say he's a bit of an expert at prayer now.  Prayer is often a subtle conversation between the person praying and God.  Simeon is an expert because he is able to discern what God is saying to him.  Because the conversation is often subtle, not everyone is as good at the listening part as Simeon was.

We know Simeon is an expert because he knows who the baby is without anyone telling him.  Indeed he goes on to tell Mary and Joseph a few things they didn't know themselves, like that Jesus would have a high profile but rocky life and there would be pain ahead, even for Mary.  We don't dismiss Simeon as a crank because everything turns out as he said.  And Mary didn't dismiss him either, as she kept what he said in her heart.  It's because she remembered it, that it got written down later, and I can tell you about it now..