The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Luke 2:22–32

When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord, and to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.  Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: “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 sight of all the peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.”

The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord comes forty days after Christmas, as the Jewish Law prescribed that the first-born son be presented in the Temple forty days after his birth.  The event is significant for Christians because it marks the first time the Lord comes to the Temple built for his honor and worship.  He comes this time as a tiny Baby carried by his Mother.  He will enter it for the last time in triumph and to the cries of “Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord”.  It is also on this occasion that he is revealed as the One who is both “light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel”.  Simeon here announces Jesus of Nazareth as the long-awaited Messiah, the “salvation” of the Jews, and at the same time he tells that he will be the Messiah, as it were, for the Gentiles.  This would certainly have startled the priests and people within hearing.  The Messiah was supposed by them to lead only the Jews, and to fight against and conquer the Gentiles.  His mission, in fact, consisted primarily in this.  The Gentiles did not need “a light for revelation”.  They needed a king who would “rule them with a rod of iron, and break them in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Psalm 2, 9).  

The sign of the Temple is fulfilled by the reality of the Holy Church which Christ himself founded.  One day he will return in glory to the Church on earth.  At that time, the Church, in all its members, shall cry out as Simeon did, “My eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples.”  He will bring his Church, formed of Jews and Gentiles, into the “peace” of his Kingdom, while he will “break in pieces” the wicked.  Simeon persevered into old age as he awaited the coming of the Lord.  We too are called to persevere in awaiting his coming.  The Church has now waited more than two thousand years, and each day brings his coming nearer.  We can also understand the long wait as the Lord extending the time which he gives us to convert the people of the world.  Let us work and pray to this end.

Many good people feel despondent these days as the darkness seems to be gaining an advantage over the light.  The wicked seem in ascendency wherever they look.  This seems true particularly in the political sphere, where laws are passed that threaten our freedom of worship and the dignity of the human person.  We must remember though that even if good laws are passed that protect these things, unless we convert the wicked, it is all in vain.