In today’s celebration, we remember
the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple in Jerusalem. The fact that we are celebrating this on a Sunday
in Ordinary Time is a “happy coincidence” in that the date of this feast
(February 2) lands on a Sunday; and since it is a “feast of the Lord” it takes precedence
over the Ordinary Time Sunday in the “hierarchy” of feasts. This, of course, happens regularly as the
days cycle through the week, year after year.
Nonetheless, it happens infrequently enough that it still feels novel
each time it happens. I’m grateful whenever
it does so that all of us have a chance to celebrate it together.
The significance of this event was
much greater, perhaps, for the early Christians, especially those Christians
who were converts from Judaism. For
them, the presentation of Jesus as an infant in the Temple was much more than a
demonstration of Mary and Joseph’s faithfulness to the Law of Moses; it was
much more even than a proof that Jesus was a valid descendant of King
David. For the first Christian converts
from Judaism, the presentation of Jesus in the Temple was a return: the return
of the presence of God to the Temple, which had been without His presence for
nearly six hundred years.
This was important for them because
the Temple was not only the place to offer right worship to God, but it was
also the place of communion with God—of entering his presence. When the Israelites were sent into exile in
571 BC and Jerusalem was overthrown, the original Temple that king Solomon
built was destroyed and the presence of God left Jerusalem and the Temple mount. After their return from exile—and even after
rebuilding the Temple—the presence of God did not return. And so, while the Temple still remained the
place of right worship of God—the proper place to offer sacrifice and prayers—it
was no longer the place of communion with God—of entering his presence. That is, until Jesus is presented there, 40
days after his birth.
Today, this significance is not
something that we Christians find particularly compelling. We should, but it’s understandable that we
don’t. With the coming of Jesus—God,
made man—and with the sending of the Holy Spirit—who dwells within the baptized—the
Temple is no longer necessary for us enter into communion with God—into his
presence. Rather, his presence is
available to us at all times and in all places.
Still more, Jesus himself said to the Samaritan woman at the well that, “the
hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in
Jerusalem” and further, “the hour is coming, and is now here, when true
worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth”, indicating that the
Temple is no longer necessary to offer right worship to God. Nonetheless, this feast still has something
to tell us. (I mean, I hope so; or else we’re wasting a whole Sunday on it,
no?)
While this feast is truly a “feast of
the Lord”, I see it also as a “feast of the Holy Family. Perhaps, therefore, we can look to them to
see what lessons they can teach us in this celebration. As I consider this, I see three “words” that
speak to us: “obedience”, “poverty”, and “apostleship”. First “obedience”.
The Scripture tells us that, “When the
days were completed for their purification according to the Law of Moses, Mary
and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is
written in the law of the Lord…” Mary
and Joseph were obedient to the Law of the Lord. Even though both of them had received special
revelation from the angel of God about who this child was, they never saw
themselves, or their child, as being above the Law. Rather, they submitted themselves to it,
knowing that if this child was to fulfill God’s plans that it would be through the observance of the Law, not
outside of it.
For us this lesson remains. Even though Jesus has fulfilled the Law and
has opened up the law of grace, by which we have been saved, we nonetheless are
beholden to a law: the law of charity—to love God and our neighbor—which we do
when we worship God reverently each Sunday—in our appearance, our
attentiveness, and our participation at Mass, and in the prayerful rest that we
observe as a gift from God—and when we serve others’ needs before our own—especially
our neighbors whom we find in need. Just
as with Mary and Joseph, it will only be through
our observance of this law of charity that God’s good plan of saving all will
be fulfilled.
Second “poverty”. The Scripture then goes on to tell us that
Mary and Joseph offered “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, in
accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.” While true that this was in accordance with
the Law of the Lord, the offering of two birds for sacrifice was an
accommodation in the Law for those who could not afford to offer a larger
animal. In other words, the offering of
two birds was the offering that poor people made. Again, Mary and Joseph did not look on their
poverty and say, “Our offering is so small and meaningless; what difference
would it make if we decided not to offer it?”
Rather, they humbled themselves before the Lord to offer what they could
afford for the atonement of their first-born Son. They didn’t feel like they had to prove
themselves to God by waiting until they could offer something greater, but
rather trusted in God, who understood their poverty, that he would receive
their offering graciously. In this way,
they remained in “right relationship” with God: the very thing that the Law was
meant to protect.
Again, the lesson for us remains. Even though we may be poor in this world, God
looks upon our offerings as precious gifts and he is pleased to receive
them. Indeed, no matter how rich we may
be in this world, we can never offer anything to God that he couldn’t obtain
for himself. God receives our offerings
for our own benefit, not his, [REPEAT] because he knows that these keep us in
“right relationship” with him, which is something he greatly desires. Thus, we should never despise our offering,
even if it be poor. Rather, we should
offer it with joyful hearts to our God who delights in receiving it.
Finally “apostleship”. This one is specific to Mary. One of Mary’s greatest marks was that of “Apostle
of Jesus”. In a real way she was the
first apostle as she was the first to present Jesus to a people who were
waiting for the coming of the Messiah.
First, after Annunciation, she went to her cousin Elizabeth, who
rejoiced in the Spirit when Mary, carrying the Incarnate Son of God in her
womb, came into her presence. Now, Mary
continues that work as she carries her Son into the Temple and encounters
Simeon: the man whom God promised would see the Messiah before he died, and
Anna, the prophetess who waited many long years in the Temple, hoping to see
the same. They, too, recognize the
Incarnate Son of God in Mary’s hands and they, too, rejoiced in the Spirit that
God’s promises to them has been fulfilled.
As an apostle, Mary continually brought Jesus to others.
This is our mission as disciples of
Jesus: to be an apostle and to bring Jesus to those who are seeking salvation:
either directly, through the hope of achieving eternal life, or indirectly as
they seek answers to the problems and sufferings that they experience in their
daily lives. We bring Jesus when we
bring to them our prayer, our accompaniment, our encouragement, and our
invitation to come and experience the Lord, himself, present to us here in this
place. Through our apostleship, like
Mary’s, many will rejoice in the Spirit for having encountered the one for whom
their hearts have longed. ///
“Obedience”, “poverty”, and
“apostleship”: three words that add fullness and dimension to our celebration
today. May the prayers of the Holy
Family, sustain us as we seek to embody these words in our own lives. And may our Lord keep us filled with the
light of his grace so that all who seek his light will see it and will come to
know the joy that we have come to know and to hope for: the joy of complete
fulfillment found in his presence in heaven.
Given
at St. Joan of Arc Parish: Kokomo, IN – February 2, 2025
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