Dear Friends

Presentation of Our Lord

(February 2)

Gradually, we’ll be basking in more and more sunlight as the days grow longer and longer. Have you noticed how much more daylight we’ve gained over the past few weeks? At 5:00 pm it isn’t completely dark outside anymore. But wait a minute -- The days are still 24 hours long aren’t they? They don’t get any longer, they simply contain more light. And, I’ll speak for myself on behalf of many others, we just love more light. As human beings, we shun the darkness, don’t we? Oh yes, I know some of us may have wanted to paint our bedroom walls black or some depressingly dark color when we were teenagers. They say it’s a phase the kids go through. But by and large, we are drawn to the light.

Now that it is February 2 ^nd, we’re 40 days past the joy and the merriment of Christmas. Biblically speaking, certain numbers, 3, 7, 12, and 40 are pivotal, so the Church probably had something special in mind for this 40 ^th day Christmas “anniversary: And you will not be disappointed.

In the world of ancient Judaism (Jesus’ day), women were considered unclean for a period of time after they had given birth. In order to achieve a state of cleanliness, a sacrifice had to be offered, and the Jerusalem Temple was the place for such an offering. So, according to Luke, this purification of the Blessed Mother was done 40 days after she gave birth to Jesus. In the ancient world, you had the choice of either dragging your favorite goat to the altar (remember--Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived about 65 miles north of the city of Jerusalem); buying one when you arrived at the Holy City (which Joseph and Mary could not afford) or offering a pair of birds--which is what Joseph and Mary decided to do.

Luke uses these ancient details to underscore what happened when the Holy Family arrived at the Temple. (Here we get to our theme of light). It was by chance that one of the priests offering the sacrifices that day was an older man named Simeon. And what he says that day is what makes the Feast of the Presentation so remarkable.

Keep in mind that Simeon is elderly and  Jewish. He starts out by saying that his life has been completely fulfilled and he can die because he has seen salvation! And what’s he looking at? You guessed it -- the baby Jesus. For Luke, Simeon is the first person (outside of Jesus’ immediate family) to have a personal relationship with Christ! And he describes what he sees as a light of revelation for the Gentiles (non-Jewish people), and the glory (the crowning zenith of God’s plan) for Israel (the Jewish people). Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph were amazed at what Simeon was saying because Simeon goes on to prophesy that Jesus would be the rise and downfall of many in Israel, a sort of “contradiction in terms” for what Greco-Roman culture had come to know and expect. Simeon also tells the Blessed Mother that her own heart will be broken as she (again in good Lukan storytelling) witnesses the horrible death of her son Jesus on a cross. Luke also introduces us to a Jerusalem Temple prophetess named Anna who speaks about the child to all who were in Jerusalem at the time.

So the Church today offers us the theme of light. We love light. The first thing God did (way back in the Book of Genesis) was separate light from the darkness. For Simeon (and us) Jesus is the light of the world. So today we’ll be blessing candles that we use at every Eucharistic Liturgy. Of course, we have great electric lights and a lot of man-made light to see with today, but when we celebrate the Eucharist, candles remind us of that first creative act of God (on Day 1 there was light), as well as the ongoing saving power of Jesus, our God incarnate and made really present on our modern Church altars – Jesus – the very light of the world. Let’s all try to live in the light of Christ this week!

Fr. George