Homily for Memorial of the Presentation of the BVM

Homily for the Memorial of the
Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Nov. 21, 2025
Zech 2: 14-17
Matt 12: 46-50
Salesian HS, New Rochelle

The Annunciation (Nicolas Poussin)

“I am coming to dwell among you, says the Lord” (Zech 2: 14).

Zechariah was a prophet after the Jewish people returned to Jerusalem from decades of exile in Babylon.  The city was ruins that needed to be rebuilt.  The Temple had been destroyed and also needed rebuilding.

Yet Zechariah prophesies that God will dwell among them—not only the among the Jews, but among “many nations [that] shall join themselves to the Lord on that day, and they shall be his people” (2:15).

That prophecy was fulfilled in a completely unexpected way when the Virgin Mary gave birth to the Son of God, our Lord Jesus.  Thru her, God came to dwell among us—not only among the Jews but among all of humanity.  By Mary’s cooperation, God’s plan to save the human race from our sins could be carried out—because Jesus lived among us, gave his life for us, and rose from the dead for us so that we might live with him.  Mary carried out the will of our heavenly Father (cf. Matt 12:50) by agreeing to become Jesus’ mother.  That was the Father’s plan for her.

God has a plan for each of us.  He has a will for us, a way in which he wants us to follow Jesus, a way in which Jesus saves us.  Every day we pray, “Thy will be done,” i.e., that God’s will be done in us, that we may know and do his will.  When we do that, we act like Mary and we become brothers of Jesus.  Thus God dwells with us and acts thru us—for our good and the good of the whole world.