Homily, February 2, 2025
From The Pastor
Today celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple. What is this feast and why is it important? Forty days after Christmas, this feast continues to reveal and unfold the impact and significance of the Child Jesus. The impact of Jesus is universal as it expresses the inclusive nature of redemption. As Savior and long-awaited Messiah for the people of Israel, the gift of our redemption is intended for all nations and peoples.
Presenting Jesus in the Temple is significant. It is the first time he has been in the Temple. As the first-born Son, by Jewish Law Jesus must be consecrated to God. Through his dying on the Cross and rising from the dead, he will come to be known as the Son of God. His consecration to God as an infant anticipates and prepares believers for the magnitude of the fulfillment of this promise.
The central movement of this feast is one of hope in the fulfillment of the promises and prophesies of the Old Testament. This hope is both individual and personal, as well as universal for all who have longed for the coming of the Messiah. Consider the roles of Simeon and Anna. As ardent believers, both serve the role of Prophet. By the plan of God, they are blest in the Spirit to give witness to the identity and nature of the Child Jesus who would become a light to all nations, and the rise and the fall of many. Simeon is promised that he would not see death until his eyes have seen the salvation of the Lord. As an agent of God, Simeon gives witness to the nature and role the child Jesus will play. Consider his joy that the promise God made to him has been fulfilled. His life is now satisfied and he is ready for death.
Similarly, Anna, a woman of devout faith comes on the scene. She too plays the role of Prophetess and witness to the promised Messiah. She tells what she has seen in the Child to all who longed for the promise of redemption. Her long years of prayer and fasting are rewarded in meeting the child who would fulfil the promise of her deepest longing.
More immediately, what can this feast say to us in our time? The work and action of our redemption has been realized in the dying and rising of Jesus. The promises and prophesies of the Old Testament have been fulfilled. How can we make this feast pertinent to our faith today? What hope can we realize in the words and actions of the story we are being told?
The work of God in the ongoing movements of human redemption are generational. Broadly, it begins with the story of Adam and Eve, the fall into sin, and the long revelation of many Divine actions preparing humanity and creation for God’s redemptive work. Beginning with Abraham, our ancestor in faith, through his sons, the tribes of Israel, Moses, King David, Elijah and Elisha, the Major Prophets, and all the miraculous works of God have prepared a people of faith to recognize and embrace the coming Messiah. John the Baptist was the final and greatest Prophet who prepared the way for the coming Christ. For generations, stories, experiences, and encounters of faith have been handed down to this very day, sustaining and nourishing the faith by the grace of God and the Spirit of Jesus given us.
Consider the scene in the Temple. Mary and Joseph are a young couple with an infant child. They are devout Jews fulfilling the dictates of the Law concerning their Son. They are greeted by a faith-filled man of many years. Animated in the Spirit, Simeon approaches with excited anticipation. The Spirit has revealed to him the identity and mission of Jesus. Anna does the same.
How can we mirror these images today? Considering the years and devotion of your faith, how can you and I pass on the faith we so dearly hold to the younger generation? Mary and Joseph were clearly mystified by the words spoken about their Son. How can the senior generation give witness to our youth the promises we hope for in the truth and life of the Lord Jesus.
Though they may never say it, or ask, how many of our youth would benefit from the wisdom, commitment, and witness of our experience of God, faith, hope, trust, in the fulfillment of all we long for? How might the young animate or energize our faith with their curiosity and desire to understand the ways of God and the person of Jesus? A lively interchange could be mutually beneficial.
So many seniors are a gold mine of wisdom, insight, fidelity, and persevering faith that could transform the lives of those who would listen to their story. Mary and Joseph were not lost, seeking their purpose, or meaning, but God used the wisdom and animated faith of those long in years to advance the mystery of the Child born to the Virgin Mary. Confident in the Spirit, what wisdom can you share that might inspire or awaken the faith of those seeking and searching. Do what you can to be a voice of hope to those who need it.
Father John Esper
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