Promise Fulfilled

Homily for the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Today we celebrate one of the Feasts of the Lord that during this calendar year falls on a Sunday. So, we set aside the Sundays of Ordinary Time and celebrate the light that has come into the world through the birth of Jesus. We bless the candles that will be used throughout our liturgies this year in memory of that light.

The prophet Malachi gives us a background for this particular Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the temple forty days after his birth. He prophesies that at some time in the future, “suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek.” This prophecy makes us scratch our heads just a bit with the question: “Isn’t God already in the temple; wasn’t the temple built as the house of the God of Israel?”

The book of the prophet Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament in both the Jewish and Christian Bible. It was not written last in a chronological sense. However, both the Jews and the Christians placed it at the end of the Old Testament because the prophecy opens the door of the New Testament. If we have paid attention to the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, we will remember that in the third chapter of that book, the glory of the Lord, the shekinah Yahweh, left the temple through the East gate. Because the people had forsaken the covenant that they had made with God even after they returned from their captivity in Babylon, Ezekiel tells them that they are so corrupt that God will no longer live among them. Later in his writing, Ezekiel also prophesies that there will come a day when God will return to the temple.

Luke’s infancy narrative (the first two chapters of his Gospel) finds us in the Temple on three separate occasions.  First, Zechariah hears of the coming birth of his son from the lips of the angel Gabriel. The narrative ends with Jesus sitting among the elders of Jerusalem as he answers and asks questions, impressing all with his knowledge.  Sandwiched in between these two “book ends,” we find Mary and Joseph bringing the child to the Temple to fulfill the dictates of the Law regarding a first-born son. Luke’s Gospel, therefore, is the fulfillment of both the prophecies of Ezekiel and Malachi.

However, how does the Lord return? Malachi prophesies that he will come with fire to burn out the corruption of the evildoers just as a refiner of silver burns out the dross and purifies silver, a rather ferocious appearance of our all-powerful God. However, Luke presents us with a vulnerable baby just forty days old in the arms of his mother who brings him to be dedicated to God just as every first-born son of Israel was presented. Simeon appears on the scene and predicts that the child will be a sign that will be contradicted. Rather than coming as a mighty warrior, the son of God will give himself up to evil men and be put to death on the cross. His mother will also suffer because of his crucifixion.

Each of the incidents that take place in the Temple reveals a part of God’s plan for our salvation.  The presentation of Jesus, forty days after his birth, gives us the clearest glimpse of what is to come as the cross of Jesus overshadows the participants – Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Simeon, and Anna.  That shadow falls darkest on Jesus and his mother as Simeon tells his parents that Jesus will be the fall and rise of many and that Mary will also be a victim.

Traditionally, this feast closed the Christmas Season.  In a little more than a month, we will find ourselves in the midst of Lent preparing for the great Solemnity of the Resurrection of the Lord and our celebration of the Passion and Death of Jesus.  The liturgical year moves so quickly at this time of year that we barely have time to take in the wonder of God in the flesh before we are confronted with the fact that the primary reason for the Incarnation is expressed in Jesus’ surrender to the mortality of that flesh.

Perhaps the best way to celebrate this Feast is to glance backwards and resolve to move forward.  Our backward glance reminds us that God loves us so much that Jesus became one of us.  Our resolution to move forward is motivated by our desire to embrace the cross just as Jesus and Mary did as they come to the Temple.  Indeed, the shadow of the cross, a shadow which some would try to avoid at all costs, is the path that each of us must walk if we are to follow Jesus.  The reading from the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that Jesus came to conquer the devil, the author of death. Jesus is, therefore, our doorway to heaven and eternal life.  We can and must embrace the cross if we desire to be one with God forever.  Avoidance and denial will only lead to our destruction.