Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

 Lectionary: 524

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.

The Prophet Malachi presents an image which is both violent and routine. A refiner purifies gold or silver by melting it over intense heat, and then skims off whatever floats to the surface. I believe I saw something similar when I worked in my uncle's plumbing shop in the early sixties. They used molten lead and oakum to seal the sewer pipes. When impurities floated on the liquid metal the pipe fitters skimmed it off and threw it away. The work was quite routine unless you got a drop of lead on your hand. 

Malachi describes the Lord's purifying his people like gold or silver, "that they may offer due sacrifice to the Lord." The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord recalls the due sacrifices which were offered by the sinless Virgin Mother and her saintly husband. They gave the Child to the temple, and then "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons" to redeem him. The old prophet Simeon spoke of the further purification Mary must endure: 

"...and you yourself a sword will pierce

so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Devout people like Anna, Simeon, Joseph, and Mary prepare to make the sacrifice; they live lives of sacrifice. They know the preference -- the election -- which God has given to them but never suppose it should afford them exemption from disappointment or grief. Rather, they take up their crosses daily and follow in his steps. 

We celebrated Christmas only forty days ago but it seems long past. Our consumer economy rushes us on to Valentine's Day, Saint Patrick's Day, and Mardi Gras. These observances are stripped of their religious significance and require little sacrifice. Even this beautiful commemoration is swamped by some nonsense about groundhogs. 

Catholics remember and practice the arts of sacrifice. Because we expect no more preferential treatment than Jesus enjoyed before the high priests, Herod Antipas, and Pontius Pilate, we pray daily for the readiness to endure whatever may come. 

Certainly the pandemic with its recurrent surges has taught us to expect disappointment. We hope and pray that this trauma refines and purifies our health care systems from the hygiene in our homes, to the cleanliness of our schools, the procedures in our hospitals, and the serenity of our nursing homes. We should have learned the importance of public health and the routine sacrifices we must make to protect one another. If personal health care physicians earn more money and acclaim, public health officers save more lives. 

Can a consumer society learn to make sacrifice? Or will it resume and regain its headlong rush to catastrophe? It should be obvious that sustainability requires discipline and straitened consumption. When a few take more privileges than they should have, the majority pay the price.  

The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is observed by the devout and routinely overlooked by the majority. We pray that God will hear our prayers and spare our people. Perhaps our routine sacrifices will forestall the violence so many foresee.