Introduction to Vespers - Memoria of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (November 21).

The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; that dedication of herself, reminds us of the ‘YES’ Mary made to God. Her ‘Yes’ at the Annunciation entailed many other ‘Yes-es’, sometimes in obscurity, sometimes in situations totally unexpected and reached its climax at the foot of the cross.

Prayer is saying ‘Yes’. When we pray and keep on praying, our ‘Yes’ moves in the direction of Jesus’ ‘Yes’. Saying ‘Yes’ means committing ourselves to all that Jesus stood for: love, truth, justice, life, human dignity.

With the ‘Yes’ we are sure to face challenges, we realize that only through our ‘Yes’ can God continue His saving work in our world; in repeating our ‘Yes’ and living it, we joyfully experience how his power triumphs in our weakness.

Under Mary’s inspiration, let us renew our ‘Yes’ and thus help to build the Kingdom of God.