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| Woodcut of Anna, Simeon, and the Holy Family |
Malachi 3:1-4
Psalm 24:7-10
Hebrews 2:14-18
Luke 2:22-40
Today we celebrate the feast of
the Presentation of the Lord, which rarely falls on a Sunday but when it does
it trumps the Sunday celebration. This feast is one that the Church has
celebrated since her earliest days. In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church,
it was known up until the reforms of Vatican II not as the feast of the
Presentation but rather the feast of the Purification. The latter emphasizes
the ritual purification of Mary that was required by the Jewish Law after
having given birth to her child. The former emphasizes the coming of the Lord
to the Temple and His revelation to the people of Israel through the great
canticle of Simeon and the words of Anna. In that proclamation we hear the
infant Lord described as the ‘Light for revelation to the Gentiles’. That
description of the Lord, built up by many Old Testament images, is also
commemorated in the procession and blessing of candles used at home and in the
church parish. Just as Jesus was brought to the Temple in the arms of Mary, so
we also entrust our prayers to these candles and pray that they might be
brought before God and found pleasing in His sight.
I say all of those things rather
quickly because I don’t want to talk about candles today. I don’t want to talk
about Mary and her purification. And, God forgive me, I don’t really even want
to talk about Jesus’ presentation in the Temple specifically. As I was praying
about this homily what continued to strike me again and again were the presence
and words of those two great symbols of faith today: Anna and Simeon.
Some of you may know that I had
the privilege a week and a half ago to join some 400 youth from our diocese for
the annual March for Life Pilgrimage to Washington, D.C. to march for an end to
abortion in our country. While the March is mainly about ending abortion, our
particular group though doesn’t limit ourselves to that focus but instead
emphasize human dignity and the value of all life. Our trip schedule helps to
highlight this fact. We go to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial and the
various war memorials near the Washington Monument and speak about the fight
for human rights and freedoms. We visit Arlington Cemetery and witness the
changing of the guards, which is an impressive ritual at the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier. We pray before an abortion clinic and listen to several talks
on respect for life in general and against abortion in particular. But the
thing that always strikes me the most is our visit to the Holocaust Museum.
This Museum, set up to commemorate and honor those lost in the Holocaust of
World War II, shows to what depths the human heart can go in its rejection of
others’ dignity. Every time I go I am reminded of the many whose dignity was
not seen and that the fight in our world continues on for human dignity, rights,
and freedom. And while the child in the womb is in such danger today, there is
another group of people in need of our respect and remembrance of their dignity
and that group is the elderly.
Each month the Holy Father asks
the Church and the world to join in prayer for two particular intentions, the
Monthly Papal Intentions, and this month the first intention is “That the
Church and society may respect the wisdom and experience of older people.” In
the Gospel account we just heard it was not the young zealous priest who
recognized the Christ, as much as I would kind of like it to be. It was the
older wisdom of Simeon and the prayerful presence of Anna. Their age permitted
them to see something different that others could not. Think about it. If every
woman who gave birth had to come for their purification after giving birth and
each firstborn male had to be ‘redeemed’ as they called it, then the Temple
wasn’t a nice quiet place waiting for that one special couple to come with
their little boy. Quite the opposite! There were probably hundreds of families
daily coming to the Temple to make their offerings to God. Simeon and Anna,
being in the temple day after day for so many years, had likely seen tens of
thousands of families come through, all looking the same; a bit disheveled from
travel, maybe tired or overwhelmed at the occasion or lack of sleep from a
crying baby. There wasn’t any special radiance about the Holy Family as they
came humbly to the Temple for the presentation of Christ and purification of
Mary, but Anna and Simeon recognized them for who they were and pointed it out
to the people gathered. They were able to do this because their many years
following the Lord God gave them wisdom, an openness to the Holy Spirit, a
grasp of the story of Israel, a story of their own journey of faith, and a
willingness to share of those blessings with the community of faith. In the
Letter to the Hebrews we heard it spoken of Christ that He was tested in the
flesh so that He could lift us up when we ourselves are tested. In other words,
Christ walked the journey already and would be able to strengthen us afterward
because He already knew the path. He had run the race, as St. Paul elsewhere
alludes. And the same goes for our elders in the faith.
One thing we all know is that as
we age our definition of ‘old changes’. As a little kid I though 30 was old;
but as a 29 year old, my view has changed. And I always have to laugh when I
visit with some of those who are in their early 90’s and they still refer to
some other group as the ‘old people’. I guess to them ‘old’ is the 100+
category. Who knows? But the fact is that all of us are called to value those
who have the grace of many years in this life.
So a little invitation for us to
consider: spend time with one another sharing your stories and your faith. If
you are a younger person, turn to your elders and ask them questions. Listen to
their journey, soak up their wisdom, and appreciate the gift they are to you.
If you are an older person, don’t be afraid to share your story, your wisdom,
your faith and the gift you are with others. If Anna and Simeon had simply
rejoiced quietly in their heart at the coming of the Lord to the Temple, we
wouldn’t have this beautiful account of the transformation of hearts that day
in the Temple and if the younger people had not listened, it would not have
been recorded. So let us rejoice in the gift of life and the gift of faith on
this feast of the Presentation of the Lord. And let us pray with our Holy
Father that the Church and society would always respect the wisdom and
experience of older people. And let it begin in our hearts today.
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