Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
Fr. Brian Mulcahy, O.P.
JM + JD
Even before the Feast of the Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple was designated in the Church officially as the World Day for Consecrated Life, which began in 1997 under St John Paul II, on the second of February there was always a special Mass in St Peter's Basilica, usually in the early evening, after the academic day was over, to which all the religious, men and women, were invited to take part. Unlike other big Masses at St Peter's, one didn't need to obtain special tickets beforehand. No, for the Feast of the Presentation, every Religious in Rome knew that he or she had a standing invitation to Mass at St Peter's that day. And of course, Rome being Rome, where the Generalates, the “world headquarters,” of many institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life are located, the parade of religious men and women from around the world, in more distinct religious garb than one could imagine, all streaming into St Peter's Basilica for Mass, was always a sight to behold!
In designating today's Feast as the World Day for Consecrated Life, St John Paul II had this to say about the fittingness of the Mystery we celebrate each year on this date, forty days after our solemn celebration of the Nativity of our Lord, with the witness that consecrated men and women give to the Church and to the world. He wrote: "The World Day for Consecrated Life will be celebrated on the feast which commemorates the presentation which Mary and Joseph made of Jesus in the temple "to present him to the Lord". This Gospel scene reveals the mystery of Jesus, the One consecrated by the Father, come into the world to carry out His will faithfully. Simeon points to Jesus as "a light for revelation to the Gentiles" and by a prophetic word foretells the supreme offering of Jesus to the Father and his final victory.
"In this way," the Holy Father went on, "the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple is an eloquent icon of the total offering of one's life for all those who are called to show forth in the Church and in the world, by means of the evangelical counsels "the characteristic features of Jesus -- the chaste, poor and obedient one".
And he added: “We should never forget that consecrated life, before being a commitment of men and women, is a gift which comes from on high, an initiative of the Father "who draws his creatures to himself with a special love and for a special mission". This look of special love profoundly touches the heart of the one called, who is urged by the Holy Spirit to place himself or herself in the footsteps of Christ, in a particular way of following him, by means of assuming the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience.” And he added: “A stupendous gift!”
In the mystery we celebrate today, the Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple, this prophecy of Malachi, which we heard in our first reading: And suddenly there will come to the temple the LORD whom you seek, And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire was fulfilled in a completely unexpected way for Israel. The Temple in Jerusalem was, of course, God’s promised dwelling-place in the midst of His people. There was kept the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies, over which hovered the “the Glory of the Lord”, a visible manifestation of the Presence of God. And it was in the Temple that Israel was most fully Israel, most fully realized and lived its identity as God’s Chosen People.
But on this day, forty days after His birth in a stable at Bethlehem, the Lord comes to His temple, not in “clouds and majesty and awe,” not in flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, but carried in the arms of His mother, wrapped in her mantle, sheltered from the cold, under the loving, watchful gaze of St Joseph. She who had no need of purification came to be purified, according to the dictates of the Law, and He who is the Son of the Father from all eternity was brought to be dedicated to the service of the Lord, as the Law dictated all first-born sons should be. How could she and Joseph not rejoice in fulfilling the precepts of God’s law, since carrying out the will of God was the joy and desire of their hearts? They brought the offering of a poor couple: two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for the mother and one for the Child.
And just as had happened when shepherds showed up at His birth, telling of angelic visitations and the message of a Child being born in David’s city who is Messiah and Lord, and then again, when Wise Men from the East arrived, bearing precious gifts and speaking of the Star of the Newborn King of Israel, so too, this day in the Temple, there are two, in addition to Joseph and Mary, who seem to understand who this Child in His mother’s arms is.
Of Simeon, we heard that 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. Where else to await the arrival of the Anointed of the Lord than in the Temple in Jerusalem? And when the Child arrives, the Holy Spirit does not fail Simeon, who asks permission to take the Child in his arms and praises God for revealing “a light to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel,” as we sang out in procession at the start of Mass today, and as we sing every night in the Last Hour of the day.
Anna the Prophetess, we are told, never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. After so many years, she knew every stone, every column, every arch of the Temple, so how could she fail to recognize the One whose House the Temple was when He finally came? My favorite verses in all the psalms are from Psalm 27, and they always make me think of Ancient Simeon and the Prophetess Anna: There is one thing I ask of the Lord, for this I long: to live in the House of the Lord all the days of my life, to savor the sweetness of the Lord, to behold His temple.
The Mystery of the Presentation in the Temple finds its fulfillment in the Passion and Death of our Lord, when He was lifted up from the earth, not just for Israel, but for all nations, as the Perfect and acceptable Sacrifice to the Father, that wins reconciliation for us. This is what the ancient Simeon predicted when he took the Child in his trembling hands, when he held the Lord for whom he had longed all his life in his own arms. "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." Simeon, with the eyes of faith, recognized who the Child was and who His Mother was. Anna the Prophetess did too. St John Paul II wrote: “Thus while we are still at the dawn of Jesus’ life, we are already oriented to Calvary. It is on the Cross that Jesus will be definitively confirmed as a sign of contradiction, and it is there that his Mother’s heart will be pierced by the sword of sorrow. We are told it all from the beginning, on the 40th day after Jesus’ birth...”
Through the Mystery we rejoice in today, may we always see Jesus with the eyes of faith, like Simeon and like Anna, and may we too be given the grace to live in the House of the Lord all the days of our life and to savor His sweetness.