Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Lectionary: 524

Lectionary: 524

Now, Master, you may let your servant go

in peace, according to your word,

for my eyes have seen your salvation,

which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples:

a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and glory for your people Israel.”

The fortieth day of Christmas falls on a Sunday this year, and gives us another opportunity to celebrate the Birth of Jesus. We should have noticed by now the light that is returning to the morning and evening skies. In the southern United States the worst of winter is over and there is hope for springtime. (In southern Louisiana, however, the great Spring, Mardi Gras, won't arrive until very late in February.)

The Church celebrates this fortieth day of Christmas with candles. Some cathedrals and parishes will gather all the candles they'll need for the coming year before the altar and bless them with special prayers, followed by a candle-lit procession. The old prophet Simeon had declared the infant in his arms is "a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of... Israel." So it's appropriate that we should chase out the winter and greet the springtime with candles.

The Presentation reminds us that Jesus was a Jew, and "born under the law." Under God's demanding injunction, in gratitude for his saving them from Egypt, the Jews must sacrifice every first-born male; be it lamb, cow, goat or human. The animals should be slaughtered and consumed immediately; the boys should be ransomed. The wealthy should pay a large sum for their precious heirs, but the poor might give only a couple of birds. Not even the newborn Messiah was exempt from this law.

Brought to the temple by Mary and Joseph, Jesus looked like every other baby boy. We can be sure there were several other proud young couples carrying their first born sons to the Lord that day. None of them were old hands at parenting; none had ever consecrated a firstborn son to God. Everyone of them thought -- and had been told -- "This boy is the most beautiful boy who's ever been born!"

But the Holy Spirit gave sight to Simeon and he recognized in one beaming woman and her proud husband the parents of the Messiah.

The Office of Readings for this feast adds luster to the occasion with the antiphon, "Arise and shine, Jerusalem, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has dawned upon you." Mary and Joseph are presenting God to the Holy City of God; they are bearing the Son of God into the Temple of God.

On this occasion we might think of the song for processions, Psalm 24: 7-10:

Lift up your heads, O gates;

be lifted, you ancient portals,

that the king of glory may enter.

Who is this king of glory?

The LORD, strong and mighty,

the LORD, mighty in war.

Lift up your heads, O gates;

rise up, you ancient portals,

that the king of glory may enter.

Who is this king of glory?

The LORD of hosts, he is the king of glory.

If a ruling king entered the temple on a horse, we can expect the portals were very high; but for the triumphant King of Heaven, they would have to be raised even higher. It was fitting and just that they should do so! Although the baby in Mary's arms didn't take up much space.

But his entrance is nonetheless spectacular to the eyes of faith. Nothing could be more appropriate than the welcome he received from Simeon and Anna. A poor and humble pair, nonentities in the eyes of the world, they represented God's holy people. They voiced the longings of many generations and a thousand years of waiting. They remembered the glory and the humiliation of God's people. If they were ashamed of their sinful nation, they rejoiced all the more in God's fidelity. Faithful in prayer, they needed no more summons that morning than the whisper of the Holy Spirit. They saw as God sees what the powerful could not imagine.

Some philosophers believe that the human being evolved over millions of years into a creature that can and must believe in something. We have lost our instincts, replaced them with habits and customs, and buttressed our rituals with beliefs. In an ever-evolving world where ancient creeds are forgotten and replaced by new religions -- everything from New Age Scientism to Sunday afternoon football, the Holy Spirit gathers us in prayer to reassure us of the Word God has spoken to us. The Light still shines in our darkness, revealing the Truth that saves and sets us free. As Shakespeare playfully did not say, when Gloucester praised with gentle mockery his brother, King Edward, "Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this Son of God!"