The Lord God said: Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; And suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek, And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner's fire, or like the fuller's lye. He will sit refining and purifying [silver], and he will purify the sons of Levi, Refining them like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the Lord. Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will please the Lord, as in the days of old, as in years gone by.
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 24: 7-10)
Refrain: Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
1) Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, that the king of glory may come in!
2) Who is this king of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle.
3) Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, that the king of glory may come in!
4) Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts; he is the king of glory.
Second Reading (Hebrews 2: 14-18)
Now, since the children are men of blood and flesh, Jesus likewise had a full share in these, that by his death he might rob the devil, the prince of death, of his power, and free those who through fear of death had been slaves their whole life long. Surely he did not come to help angels, but rather the children of Abraham; therefore he had to become like his brothers in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God on their behalf, to expiate the sins of the people. Since he was himself tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are tempted.
When the day came to purify them according to the law of Moses, the couple brought Jesus up to Jerusalem so that he could be presented to the Lord, for it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every first-born male shall be consecrated to the Lord." They came to offer in sacrifice "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons," in accord with the dictate in the law of the Lord. There lived in Jerusalem at the time a certain man named Simeon. He was just and pious, and awaited the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not experience death until he had seen the Anointed of the Lord. He came to the temple now, inspired by the Spirit; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform for him the customary ritual of the law, he took him in his arms and blessed God in these words: "Now, Master, you can dismiss your servant in peace; you have fulfilled your word. For my eyes have witnessed your saving deed displayed for all the peoples to see: A revealing light to the Gentiles, the glory of your people Israel." The child's father and mother were marveling at what was being said about him. Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: "This child is destined to be the downfall and the rise of many in Israel, a sign that will be opposed -- and you yourself shall be pierced with a sword -- so that the thoughts of many hearts may be laid bare." There was also a certain prophetess, Anna by name, daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She had seen many days, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She was constantly in the temple, worshiping day and night in fasting and prayer. Coming on the scene at this moment, she gave thanks to God and talked about the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem. When the pair had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee and their own town of Nazareth. The child grew in size and strength, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.
[Text from: Lectionary for Mass, Copyright 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; copyright 1969, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. (ICEL) All rights reserved. Used with permission of ICEL.]
- We Are the Light of the World, by Jean Anthony Greif (Chorus). 1966
- The Servant Song, by Richard Gillard. (G285)
Stories:
The Martyrdom of Andy, from A Second Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul, by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, pp. 50 - 54. Health Communications, Inc., Deerfield Beach, Fla. 1995. (Specifically mentions "whatsoever you do to the least...".)
Homiletic Ideas:
- Those who want to be freed must reach for the One anointed by the Lord, receive in their hands the Word of God and, as it were, hold it tight in the arms of faith. They, having seen life, they will be liberated and will not see death. (Days, p. 117).
- Simeon refers to the baby Jesus as a "revealing light to the Gentiles". What does he mean by this? What is a light? It is something that makes things visible, or the state of being visible, exposed to view or revealed to knowledge.
- Jesus enables all who welcome him to become children of light, children of God. Our Lord came to earth to lead us into the light of the truth, to instruct us in God's ways.
- Three Catholics (use whatever group you like) die and go to heaven. St. Peter meets them at the gate and says, "Before you can enter the kingdom of heaven, each of you must prove that you know something about your religion. In order to get into heaven, you have to tell me what Easter is."
He goes up to the first person and she says, "Easter's the holiday that comes in the autumn and is celebrated with a big feast and everyone gives thanks for their blessings for the whole year."
St. Peter shakes his head and moves on to the second person.
"Can you tell me about Easter?"
He says, "Yes. That's the holiday that falls in the winter when everyone celebrates the birth of the baby Jesus by the giving of gifts to one another."
Again, St. Peter shakes his head sadly and moves on to the third person. "What do you think?"
"Easter is the holiday that comes in the Spring and begins with Jesus' death on the cross. His followers put him in a cave, and rolled a big rock in front of it to seal it. On the third day, an angel rolled the rock away and Jesus came out."
Peter says "Finally, someone who knows what Easter is!"
Just then, the last person added "But then Jesus saw his shadow, and then there were six more weeks of winter!!".
Of course, we in the US know that this story is about Groundhog Day which is celebrated on February 2nd. But for many Christians, today is also the feast of the Presentation. And actually, there is some correlation between today's feast and Easter, which I will discuss shortly.
There are several things which we should know about today's gospel passage.
- First of all, it commemorates the fortieth day after Christmas when the law of Moses prescribed that the first-born son in every Jewish family was consecrated to the Lord.
- Secondly, it actually concludes the celebrations of the Nativity, even though ordinary time began on the day after we commemorated the Baptism of the Lord a few weeks ago.
- Third, it is the feast which is also called Candlemas, on which the church has traditionally blessed all of its candles. The candles represent Christ as the light of the world.
- Fourth, although the feast is a prolongation of the Nativity, it has definite paschal overtones: the recognition of Christ as Light is a prelude to the acclamations which are included in the Easter Vigil service. And
- lastly, this feast is referred to as the Feast of the Encounter in Eastern churches, because it commemorates when Simeon and Anna first encounter the Christ Child.
Before we look at some of the meanings in Luke's narrative, let us first consider the persons who are its principal figures.
A) Joseph and Mary were the faithful parents who kept the law of Moses. They did not believe themselves to be above the law of God, even though their son was the Son of God, just as Jesus himself carefully fulfilled the requirements of the law.
B) Mary: First of all, Mary's role in all the infancy narratives is a prominent one as Mother of the Savior, and yet hers is such a self-effacing role, wherein she lets her son shine forth for all to see. She is the epitome of all women who define themselves through their children. Secondly in Luke's narrative, Mary represents all who hear the word of God and keep it. Just as Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart, so must we take the Word of God and ponder it in our hearts. Mary offers her son to us, as she did to Simeon, so that we too may take him as our own. Since Jesus is no longer in the flesh, he can only take flesh through us; we must take him into our hearts and give him flesh and blood here and now. We must all be able to say "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (Gal. 2:20). Once we have accepted her son as our own, then we too become her children.
C) Simeon: Simeon represents all the just of Israel who hoped to see the Holy One of God, the Anawim. Furthermore, Simeon represents all of us. Simeon's canticle is spoken for all who have taken Christ into their hearts. Once we have taken him into our hearts, then truly we can depart in peace.
D) Anna: Last of all in Luke's narrative, we encounter Anna. It is interesting to note that Luke highlights the role of a woman here, an elderly woman at that. First of all, she serves a very practical purpose as the second witness to Simeon's proclamation, as required in the book of Deuteronomy. But it is also interesting to note here the juxtaposition of the youth of Jesus and the old age of both her and Simeon. We so often push the elderly away from us as unwelcome reminders of our own advancing age. And yet here Luke gives these two elderly persons a prominent role to play, one which highlights their wisdom. Rather than something to be avoided, age brings us all closer to our own encounter with Jesus for which this life prepares us.
Now let us consider some of the deeper meanings of this passage. When Joseph and Mary went to the temple, they only provided two pigeons as an offering because they could not afford a lamb, as would ordinarily be required. The purpose of the offering of a lamb and a pigeon, or two pigeons for those who could not afford a lamb, was in essence to purchase the first-born male child back from God. Each first-born son was believed to be a gift from God on loan to the parents. Since God had saved their first-born sons from pharoah in Egypt through the blood of a lamb, now every first-born son must be purchased from God through the offering of a lamb. It is significant to note that the lamb offered to purchase the child back from God on this feast would later become the spotless lamb, Christ himself on the cross, who would purchase our souls for God. Presented in the temple by his parents, Jesus would be back in Jerusalem to spend the last days of his ministry there (cf. Luke 21:37-38) before fulfilling his pasch of death and resurrection.
The light of Candlemas announces the light of the paschal candle. Its brilliance, which shines for all nations, helps us to discover the true face of every human being, so often ignominiously disfigured, in which we must recognize the face of Christ, in whose image all have been created. We are not the source of the light. But when the light of Christ shines into our life, then we can reflect that light into some other life, or into some dark situation that cries out for the redemptive light and love of God. Consider the following story:
- Robert Fulghum tells about a seminar he once attended in Greece. On the last day of the conference, the discussion leader walked over to the bright light of an open window and looked out. Then he asked if there were any questions. Fulghum laughingly asked him what was the meaning of life. Everyone in attendance laughed and stirred to leave. However, the leader held up his hand to ask for silence and then responded "I will answer your question."
He took his wallet out of his pocket and removed a small round mirror about the size of a quarter. Then he explained "When I was a small child during World War II, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place. I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept the largest piece. This one. And by scratching it on a stone, I made it round.
I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun could never shine. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places that I could find. I kept the little mirror, and as I grew up, I would take it out at idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child's game, but a metaphor of what I could do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of the light. But light - be it truth or understanding or knowledge - is there, and it will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it. I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have, I can reflect light into the dark places of this world - into the dark places of human hearts - and change some things in some people. Perhaps others seeing it happen will do likewise. This is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life." (1)
Just like Simeon did, we must take Jesus into our arms and welcome him into our hearts. And just as Simeon did, we must be able to see Jesus when no one else recognizes him. Remember in the Man of La Mancha, the principal character, Don Quixote, saw in Dulcinea more than a prostitute? He believed in her so strongly that eventually she came to believe in herself and respect herself. We must do the same. We must see Christ in others, even when they do not see him in themselves, so that they too can come to believe in their own goodness.
In the gospel of John, our Lord refers to John the Baptist with these words: "This man was a light, consuming and revealing, but you wished to rejoice exceedingly for a while in his presence". We need to take that verse to heart so that we can see others for who they are: children of God, just as we are. Then they may rejoice exceedingly for a while in our presence.
References:
1. It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It, by Robert Fulghum. Ivy Books, 1988. (Quoted in Dynamic Preaching, Seven Worlds Corporation, 310 Simmons Road, Knoxville, Tn. 37922.)
Penitential Rite
Lord Jesus, you are the light of the world revealed to all nations. Lord, have mercy.
Christ Jesus, you ask us to reflect your light to all peoples. Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you show us the way to eternal life with the Father. Lord, have mercy.
Rite of Dismissal
The Mass is ended. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and to reflect the light of Christ into the lives of others.
Celebrant: Christ became one like us, sharing our humanity in every way but sin, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God on our behalf. Therefore, confident that he will intercede for us, we bring our prayers and petitions to the Father.
Deacon/Lector: Our response is "Lord, hear our prayer."
That the leaders of the Church will reflect the light of Christ by the way they live, we pray to the Lord.
That the leaders of the nations of the world will be instruments of God's justice and peace, we pray to the Lord.
That the sick, the elderly and those who are grieving the loss of a loved one will see the face of God in our caring concern, we pray to the Lord.
That all children may learn and grow in wisdom and grace within the joy of a loving family, we pray to the Lord.
That we, the members of the Church, Christ's body on earth, will follow the example of Simeon and Anna and recognize the face of Christ in all those we meet every day of our lives, we pray to the Lord.
For all of the intentions we hold in our hearts and which we now recall in silence. (Pause) For all of these intentions, we pray to the Lord.
Celebrant: Heavenly Father, you sent your Son to live according to the law and to deliver us from the restrictions of the law. Grant us the grace of your Spirit to live in the freedom of the law of love that he has given us. We ask this through Christ, your Son. Amen.