Thought for the Day – 2 February – The Purification of Our Lady

Thought for the Day – 2 February – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Purification of Our Lady

“When we meditate on the subject of this Feast, we find two outstanding examples to be imitated.
The first is given by Mary.
She was perfectly pure and holy, conceived without original sin and full of grace.
She knew well that she had conceived her Divine Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
So, she was not obliged to observe this humiliating law of purification.
Nevertheless, she fulfilled it and gave God the offering of the poor as a lesson for us, in humility and poverty.
It is so easy for us to excuse ourselves from obeying the law and to make a display of our special privileges before others.
Let us learn from Mary, to love silent submission and detachment from worldly wealth and honours.

The other example is given us by Jesus.
Being God, there was no need for Him to be bought back, in the same way as the first-born sons of the Israelites.
He was the Saviour who had come to redeem the human race from sin and make them heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven.
But He said of Himself, “I have not come to destroy but to fulfil” (Mt 5:17).
A few days earlier He had submitted to the painful and humiliating rite of circumcision.
Now He allows Himself to be offered in the temple as a victim of expiation for all mankind.
These are glorious examples, before which, our pride should bow in shame.
We should be moved to offer ourselves to God, lovingly and without reserve”!

Antonio Cardinal Bacci