Offering Her Child to God
This is a true confession. My mother did not like me joining the seminary. And I can tell you now, she is displeased that I am now so far away from the family and the US embarking on a mission journey in a very far land, "the land of the kangaroos!" Whenever I call her, in the middle of our conversation (in her anxious manner particularly when not being in good mood) very often she asks me, "So, when do you come home?"
"Mom! What do you mean by my coming home?" I tease her.
"Back to America," she answers frankly.
Well! Well! Well! What do you expect? For before joining the SVD missionary congregation in 1997, I worked as an Electrical Engineer in Silicon Valley in California. So don’t be surprised if my mother keeps “bombarding” me with the same question, “So, when…,” for she never liked the idea that her son, a blue-collar engineer, would leave a good career in "the promised land", his family and his MOM for a missionary call in foreign lands.
To ease her tension and mine (I guess) while being confronted by my mother with the question, “So, when…,” I occasionally tease her by answering,
“Well, you have to ask God. I am busy with His business. Whenever God releases me from the job, I'll go home.”
Oh, my mom, the lady who is now above ninety two years old, and yet is a stand-out with her maternal traits; i.e., she is still very much a mom, and no matter what, I am still her son, her own baby.
When the day came to fulfill the requirements of the Torah, Mary and Joseph came to the Temple to present her first child to God (Luke 2:22-40). Note that according to the Jewish law, the first son of the family must be offered to God (Leviticus 12, Exodus 13:12-15). A family however could redeem the child by offering a lamb to God (Lev. 12:8). Then the parents receive their son back. Psychologically speaking, Mary, just like any mother on earth maternally, certainly did not like the idea of offering her only son to God. This sort of resistance was illustrated in the episode of Jesus getting lost in the Temple and the way Mary reacted to the incident (Luke 2:41-52).
Possessiveness, I guess, is part of human nature. So it does make sense if a mother in human fashion never likes to give away her child to anyone, I guess even to God. Yes, Mary faced the cross sent to her. At the end, Mary always responded, “Let it be done to me,” even at the moment while she was standing at the foot of her son’s cross. What a dramatic moment for a mother!
Eventually my mother says,
“I don’t like you working in a foreign land, but if you are happy, I will surrender my will to God’s will.”What a strong statement from a lady who is ninety two years old.
Let us learn from our beloved lady, Mary, by being willing to say, “Let it be done to me,” while facing obstacles on our own journeys of faith. Let us learn from the poor widow in Mark 12:41-43. Despite having only two small coins left (that’s all she had in her pocket to live on), she was willing to give them to God. What a brave woman who had such a strong faith in God.