THE FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD
(Malachi 3:1-4; Hebrews 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40)
Today’s Feast of the Presentation of the Lord gives us a
last opportunity to meditate in common on the Incarnation before beginning the Lenten
penitential season. Its gospel highlights three significant
actions. First, it places Jesus, the Son of God, in the Temple, the appropriate
place for the encounter between God and humans. Second, it presents Jesus as
the light of the nations, that is, the world’s guide to righteous living. And
third, it hints at the death Jesus will undergo for the salvation of all.
However, in several countries more emphasis is placed on the Memorial of St.
Blaise, the following day, than on the Presentation. Let us try to correct this
negligence now.
The Holy Family enters the Temple on the fortieth day after Jesus’
birth. The Book of Leviticus specifies that this length of time passes before
the rite of purification of the mother is performed. The gospel adds this
little note about purification to its main theme, the redemption of the infant
Jesus. According to the Book of Exodus every firstborn male is to be dedicated
to God and then redeemed. By showing Mary and Joseph fulfilling the details of
the Law, the evangelist Luke demonstrates that Jesus was raised a faithful Jew
and that Judaism is integral to the meaning of his life.
A poet once wrote: “How odd of God to choose the Jews.” It may have been odd, but the fact is that He
did so with instructions to build a Temple where sacrifices could be made for
the forgiveness of sins. In today’s gospel the Son of God enters the Temple to
take possession of it as his own. In time he will replace it with his own body.
Then, forgiveness of sins will be achieved by participation in the sacrifice of
his Body and Blood on the cross. Of course, this is the reason why we gather
every Sunday for Mass.
In the Temple Mary and Joseph meet the holy and righteous
Simeon. The reading specifies that the Holy Spirit, who can verify his words, is
upon him. Taking the child Jesus in his arms, Simeon thanks the Lord for
allowing him to live until this moment. Then he makes a prophecy of immense
importance. First, he calls Jesus the “a light for revelation to the Gentiles.”
This means that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise first to Abraham, then
to all Israel that one of their number will show the whole world the ways of
God. As the prophet Isaiah predicted, Jesus will teach the nations to “beat
their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.”
The second part of Simeon’s prophecy has to do with his own people.
He says that Jesus will be the cause “for the ruin and rise of many in Israel.”
Light makes it possible to distinguish good deeds from bad ones. First Israel
and then the rest of the world will be judged by this light. Even Jesus’ mother
is not excluded from this judgment. This is a matter commonly misunderstood.
Mary deserves praise not because she nursed Jesus, but because she was the
first in the gospel to meditate on God’s word and to put it into practice.
Finally, Simeon’s prophecy contains a note of foreboding. He
says that Jesus will “be a sign that will be contradicted.” He has in mind the
opposition that Jesus will encounter when he returns to the Temple as an adult.
The religious leaders will not be able to bear to see him conquer the minds and
hearts of the people. They will conspire with the Roman authority to put him to
death. His sacrifice will free people from sin as the holy woman indicates at
the end of the reading.
Hopefully we can now appreciate the Incarnation more
clearly. God has prepared for the coming of his Son into the world throughout
the history of Israel. When he finally arrives, he establishes himself in the
Temple as a teacher of God’s ways to the world. Finally, the people of Israel,
and in time the entire world, are divided into two camps -- those who accept
him and abide by his teachings and those who reject him to the extent of arranging
his death. Those who reject those teachings will fall into ruin while those who
accept them will rise to glory.
