Homily February 2: The bridge between Christmas and Easter

Homily for the Presentation of Our Lord 2020 

MAL 3:1-4, HEB 2:14-18, LK 2:22-40

Introduction 

This weekend of February 2nd means different things to different people. 

• For some February 2nd is Groundhog day, when the groundhog emerges from his winter hideout, and predicts how soon Spring will come.  In New Orleans we don't need that; we have all four seasons in the same week. 
• This year, February 2nd is Superbowl Sunday, the high holy day of America's other religion, Football.  
• For us Catholics, February 2nd is the feast of the Presentation of Our Lord. This year because it falls on a Sunday, we get to celebrate this great feast. 

But what does this feast mean for our faith journey? 

Scripture and Theology 

In the hierarchy of feasts, the Presentation of Our Lord does not rank as high as Christmas or Easter.  If Christmas were the religious equivalent of Thanksgiving and Easter the equivalent of Independence Day, you can think of the Presentation  of Our Lord as being like Columbus Day or Presidents' Day, a holiday for which many businesses do not even close.  And yet still, this feast which marks 40 days after the birth of Jesus has many things to teach us about Jesus and about our relationship with him. 

As the name suggests this feast marks the event of Joseph and Mary presenting Jesus in the Temple.  Every Jewish family was required to dedicate or consecrate their first-born child to God, since God is the source of all life. 

But tied to this event was the requirement for the mother after childbirth to undergo purification rituals to be completed by the 40th day when she presented the child in the Temple.  According to Leviticus 12, an important element of the purification ritual was the sacrifice of a lamb.  But if the family was poor, they could sacrifice two turtledoves or two pigeons.  Mary and Joseph offered birds instead of the animal, suggesting that they were poor.  And yet even in their poverty, these birds were the sign of the child that the parents wanted to give the Lord.  And so, the sacrifice not only fulfilled the requirements for purification, they were also a vicarious sign of dedicating the child to God, giving him to God. 

Perhaps Mary and Joseph wanted to sneak into the Temple, do their little ritual and get back home to Nazareth (at least three days of walking).  But things turned out to be a little dramatic.  Two elderly people, Simeon and Anna, happened to be at Temple; and they let the cat out of the bag. Simeon a righteous and virtuous man, and Anna a widow and Prophetess revealed to all present, that this child was special, that this child himself was God. 

• Simeon blessed and thanked God for allowing him to live long enough to see the child that would bring salvation to the whole world: “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel,” he called him. 
• Anna for her part gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. 

Mary and Joseph were intending to present the child to God, but now, through the inspired mouths of Simeon and Anna, God presented the child to the world, not just as the newborn baby as at Christmas, but as the Saviour of the world. 

There is the heated debate as to when to take down Christmas decorations.  Some take them down on December 26th. In fact if you are too lazy or too stingy to buy a Christmas tree, just wait and pick a free one from the curb the day after Christmas.  But liturgically speaking, the official end of Christmas is the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and that is when I think we should take them down.  But a third position suggests that we keep them up until today, the Presentation of the Lord, when we finish all those events surrounding the birth of Jesus and the purification of his mother. 

I bring this up because I would like to suggest that this feast of the Presentation is a good bridge between Christmas and Easter.  In the Creed we profess the two principal mysteries of the Christ's life.  There is the mystery of the Incarnation – God becoming man which we celebrate at Christmas with preparations done in Advent.  And then there is Paschal Mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus which we celebrate during Easter with preparations done during Lent.  But while we celebrate them separately, these two mysteries are intimately connected.  And today's feast shows that connection when both Simeon and Anna reveal that this new born baby is the long-awaited Messiah, who is going to bring about the salvation of God's people. 

More specifically the ominous words of Simeon say exactly how this child is going to bring about salvation.  He says to Mary: "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted --and you yourself a sword will pierce-- so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”  Mary at this time probably did not understand what the old man was saying, but in about 33 years, she would understand that he was referring to the Cross her son would carry and die on, and to her own sorrow at seeing his sacrifice.  On this feast the joyful mysteries are intermingled with the sorrowful mysteries and with the glorious mysteries of the rosary. 

Christian Life 

What can we take back with us home today?  In 1997, Pope John Paul II instituted a day of prayer for women and men in consecrated life, in other words, religious sisters and brothers, monks and nuns. This day is often celebrated in association with today's Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.  For what consecrated people do is exactly what Mary and Joseph did with Jesus when they presented him to the Lord.  These men and women also give their lives to God.  And like Simeon described Jesus as a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel,” by their dedicated lives they too shine light upon the values of radical commitment to God and service to his people. 

I think we have some sisters here in the congregation; sisters we thank you for your vocation and for all you do for us, even the hidden things like your prayer, which we don't see.  Perhaps some of you were taught by the sisters or brothers in school.  Today is a good day to remember them.  One of the priests I live with at the seminary, Fr. Kelly, has been are religious for 57 years now and a priest for 63 years.  And yet he is the first one in the chapel at 4:00 am; he is in the gym every afternoon and did I mention that he still teaches moral theology to our seminarians, and goes on mission trips with them to serve the needy.  Like Simeon and Anna in the gospel Fr. Kelly and many religious men and women not only pray for us, but they also show us the way to God. 

Conclusion 

This was not the last visit of Jesus to the Temple; the gospels record at least two other visits.  At Twelve, he came to worship like all other Jews and when his parents left him behind, he set about learning from them, asking them questions and teaching them too.  As an adult, he came back to the Temple to cleanse it of abuses going on there, driving out the merchants and money-changers, who had turned his Father's house into a den of thieves. 

Jesus still comes to our Temple every Sunday, especially at Mass, when the bread and wine become his Body and Blood.  Are we ready to receive him like Simeon and Anna did?  And do we take him back into our lives like Mary and Joseph took him back to Nazareth to grow in wisdom, strength and God's favour?