Fourth Joyful Mystery
Presentation
Spiritual Fruits:
Obedience
Narrative:
The Presentation
1. Observing the law of Moses they take Jesus to the Temple to present Him to the Lord.
2. According to the Law the firstborn male child of every family should be consecrated to the Lord.
3. Mary offers her Son to the Father, then ransoms Him back at the price paid by the poor.
4. Jesus is not subject to the law of Moses, yet to teach obedience, submits to it.
5. Mary is not subject to the law of purification, yet in humility she submits to it.
6. God had revealed to Simeon that he would not see death until he had seen the Messiah.
7. Recognizing the Child, he prays: “Now you can dismiss your servant in peace. You have fulfilled your word.”
8. “This Child is destined to be the downfall and rise of many in Israel, a sign that will be opposed.”
9. And to Mary Simeon reveals: “And your own soul a sword shall pierce.”
10. After they fulfill all the Law requires they return to Nazareth.
Spiritual Fruit:
Obedience
1. Obey over Command
2. Sacrifice of Greater Value
3. Ever Ready to Labor
4. Humility
5. Power of Obedience
[1. Obey over command]
"Naturally we all have an inclination to command, and a great aversion to obey; and yet it is certain that it is more for our good to obey than to command; hence perfect souls have always had a great affection for obedience, and have found all their joy and comfort in it.”
-Saint Francis of Sales, Doctor of the Church
"He who follows his own ideas in opposition to the direction of his superiors needs no devil to tempt him, for he is a devil to himself."
-Saint John Climacus
[2. Sacrifice of greater value]
“Obedience, is rightly placed before all other sacrifices, for in offering a victim as sacrifice, one offers a life that is not one’s own; but when one obeys one is immolating one’s own will.”
-St. Gregory the Great
“My daughter, know that you give Me greater glory by a single act of obedience than by long prayers and mortifications. (894)”
-St Faustina, Divine Mercy in my Soul
“Without a doubt, obedience is more meritorious than any other penance. And what greater penance can there be than keeping one's will continually submissive and obedient?”
-St. Catherine of Bologna
“Obedience unites us so closely to God that in a way transforms us into Him, so that we have no other will but His. If obedience is lacking, even prayer cannot be pleasing to God.”
-St. Thomas Aquinas
“The obedience which we render to a superior is paid to God, Who says, ‘He that hears you hears Me;’ so that whatever he who holds the place of God commands, supposing it is not evidently contrary to God's law, is to be received by us as if it came from God Himself; for it is the same thing to know His Will, either from His Own, from an Angel's, or from a man's mouth.”
-Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Father and Doctor of the Church
“Obedience is a virtue of so excellent a nature, that Our Lord was pleased to mark its observance upon the whole course of His life; thus He often says, He did not come to do His Own will, but that of His Heavenly Father.”
-Saint Francis of Sales, Doctor of the Church
“The more we see that any action springs not from the motive of obedience, the more evident is it that it is a temptation of the enemy; for when God sends an inspiration, the very first effect of it is to infuse a spirit of docility.”
-Saint Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church
“Obedience is a short cut to perfection. They who are living under obedience, if they really wish to advance in the ways of God, must give themselves up always and in all things into the hands of their superiors; and they who are not living under obedience must subject themselves to some learned and discreet confessor, whom they may obey in the place of God, disclosing to him, with perfect candor and simplicity, the affairs of their soul; and they should never come to any resolution without his advice. Nothing gives greater security to our actions, or more effectually cuts the snares the devil lays for us, than to follow another person's will, rather than our own, in doing good.”
-Saint Philip Neri
“Obedience is a penance of reason, and, on that account, a sacrifice more acceptable than all corporal penances and mortifications.”
-Saint John of the Cross, Doctor of the Church
“God is more pleased to behold the lowest degree of obedience, for His sake, than all other good works which you can possibly offer to Him.”
-Saint John of the Cross, Doctor of the Church
“A single instant passed under simple obedience is immeasurably more valuable in the sight of God than an entire day spent in the most sublime contemplation.”
-Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi
“Obedience is mission: ‘I have come into this world to do the will of my Father, who has sent me.’; Where there is no obedience, there is no virtue; where there is no virtue there is no good; where good is wanting, there is no love, there is no God; where God is not, there is no Heaven.”
-St. Padre Pio
[3. Ever ready to labor]
"A Christian faithful to obedience, knows not delays, but prepares his ears for hearing, and his hands and his feet for labor."
-St. Bernard of Clairvaux
"We must put aside all judgment of our own, and keep the mind ever ready and prompt to obey in all things the true Spouse of Christ our Lord, our holy Mother, the hierarchical Church."
-Saint Ignatius of Loyola
[4. Humility]
“It is better to cherish the humble desire of living according to the rule of the community, and to be diligent in its observance, than to entertain exalted desires of performing imaginary wonders, for such imaginations only tend to swell our hearts with pride, lead us to undervalue our brethren, from an impression that we are better than they.”
-Saint Pacomius
(Note: 'supposing it is not evidently contrary to God's law' -Saint Bernard of Clairvaux)
[5. Power of Obedience]
“The power of obedience! The lake of Gennesareth had denied its fishes to Peter’s nets. A whole night in vain. Then, obedient, he lowered his net again to the water and they caught ‘a huge number of fish.’ Believe me: the miracle is repeated each day.”
-St. Josemaria Escriva
“I often thought my constitution would never endure the work I had to do, (but) the Lord said to me: ‘Daughter, obedience gives strength.’”
-St. Teresa of Avila
“The Devil doesn’t fear austerity but holy obedience.”
-St. Francis de Sales
“Don't give in to discouragement... If you are discouraged it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own powers. Never bother about people's opinions. Be obedient to truth. For with humble obedience, you will never be disturbed.”
-Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
“Obedience is a consecration of the heart, chastity of the body, and poverty of all worldly goods to the Love and Service of God. Blessed indeed are the obedient, for God will never permit them to go astray.”
-St. Francis De Sales
“One of the greatest graces for which I feel myself indebted to Our Lord is, that His Divine Majesty has given me the desire to be obedient; for in this virtue I find most consolation and contentment, it being that which Our Lord recommended by His own example more than any other, and on this account I desire to possess it more than anything else in the world.”
-Saint Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church
“He who always acts under obedience may be assured that he will not have to give an account of his actions to God.”
-Saint Philip Neri
“All that is done by obedience is meritorious... It is obedience, which, by the light of Faith, puts self-will to death, and causes the obedient man to despise his own will and throw himself into the arms of his superior... Placed in the bark of obedience, he passes happily through the stormy sea of this life, in peace of soul and tranquility of heart. Obedience and faith disperse darkness; he is strong because he has no longer any weakness or fears, for self-will, which is the cause of inordinate fear and weakness, has been destroyed.”
-Saint Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church
