Magnificat has added a monthly feature written by Heather King (Parched) commenting on a particular feast of the month.  I thought I would share an excerpt from her piece on the Presentation:

To present our experiences at the temple is to sacramentalize them.  To present our experiences is to recognize that all experience, from the smallest to the largest, has a supernatural dimension.  We offer our experiences on the altar of the fact that we are loved just as we are, and that everything that happens to us is an opportunity to draw closer to Christ.  We present ourselves at the temple because our lives, our work, our sacrifices are not ourown.

Before we present ourselves at the temple, we see ourselves through the eyes of the world.  After we present ourselves at the temple, we see ourselves through the eyes of God.

Outside of the temple, for example, I am an aging spinster, alone and unloved.  Inside, I am a woman rich in insight, wisdom, and friends.  I’m reminded that I have a unique and special mission.  Before we ‘present’ our drug-addicted son at the temple, we are crazy with worry.  We feel like failures as parents, that our life’s work has gone for naught.  After presenting him at the temple, we remember that we have given our very best, that love is never wasted or lost, that our child is in the hands of God.  In fact, that is exactly what Mary and Joseph did with Jesus.