God working in our hearts... not what we expect!

+ J. M. J. +

 Draft Homily for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

We celebrate today this beautiful Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple. God who is Incarnate in the world becomes known on this feast to two more who have been waiting for him, Simeon and Anna. In Jewish practice, the Holy Family is at the Temple for a sacrifice and purification. As with the Lord’s Baptism which takes place some 30 years later, Jesus doesn’t need to be redeemed by a sacrifice, nor does Mary need to be purified. Jesus continues to humbly take upon Himself our need for expiation, not needing it Himself, and Mary participates in this. Our 2nd Reading form the Letter to the Hebrews echoes this mystery:

Since the children share in blood and flesh, Jesus likewise shared in them… he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every way… because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

Jesus takes upon Himself our whole condition, He is with us in radical solidarity in all human experience, except He never Himself sinned. Free from sin, though, He still bore all the consequences of sin for us.

Simeon and Anna have both mysteriously been moved by God to wait and recognize the Messiah. God enters His own Temple, and only these two very humble old people recognize Him! What faith and trust it must have taken for them to wait, to hope in God’s promise, to be available to the movement of the Holy Spirit when He moved their hearts. They see the Holy Family come in, a simple humble family, and yet they had the eyes of faith to recognize that here was the Messiah! Simeon affirms the fulfillment of the prophets when he says:

…my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.

God has entered His Temple, His world, His creation… God has come Himself with light and glory, for the People of Israel, and for ALL people! This is why today’s feast came to be known as Candlemas, and why we bless our candles today… the candle is always a symbol of Jesus, Light of the World! Simeon and Anna’s hearts must have been full to the bursting with praise and thanksgiving… and very likely the people around them must have thought they were batty!

It would have been hard for the people there in the Temple to believe or understand, not because they were ignorant of the prophecies, but precisely because they knew the prophecies and constantly discussed them.  The Jews of Jesus' time were in ferment, longing for the Messiah who would deliver them from the Romans, constantly discussing the prophecies, and many false Messiahs arose and were killed.. God fulfilled the prophecies, He DID come, but not as people had expected! Listen again to what the Prophet Malachi had foretold, 

And suddenly there will come to the temple the LORD whom you seek,…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 and those who heard him were expecting God to come with force and power, sifting through the people, burning away the impurity. When gold or silver are purified, they are heated until they are molten hot, and all that is impure is burned away or it floats to the surface as dross to be discarded... it's not gentle!

Didn’t God fulfill His promise? Did the prophet or people misunderstand? I would propose to you that God DID keep His promise, but not the way His people expected! Jesus did sift the hearts and lives of those who encountered Him… but quietly, sweetly, gently… Those who encountered Him did have to make a decision… will I follow Him, will I receive Him? However, that choice wasn’t forced upon them with an outward show of force or power, and yet they had to make a choice. Those whose hearts were small and humble, like Mary, like Joseph, like Simeon, like Anna… they were able to receive Him, they were able to respond, they were able to notice God at work and present, a baby child.

So what about you and me? Are we looking for God, paying attention? Do we desire to know His will and work in our midst? Do we desire to cooperate? It is easy for me to be full of my own thoughts and plans and values, such that I don’t even seek God. And if we do seek God, are we only open to His work if it fits our template? Must He strike down the person who disturbs us, or could we let Him soften our hearts? Must the person who has hurt us grovel at our feet, or could we hear an invitation to recognize that we too need to ask forgiveness? Must He eliminate our suffering, or might we recognize an invitation to walk with Christ who walks with us to Calvary? Must God wave His hand and eliminate sickness and sin instantly, or can we hear Him inviting us to be His hands and voice and feet?

In the midst of all the crazy claims about what Pope Francis is doing, listen to his own words from Evangelii Gaudium, the Joy of the Gospel, because I think they fit with our readings today!

3. I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. // No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”. // The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms. // Now is the time to say to Jesus: “Lord, I have let myself be deceived; in a thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet here I am once more, to renew my covenant with you. I need you. // Save me once again, Lord, take me once more into your redeeming embrace”. // How good it feels to come back to him whenever we are lost! // Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy. // Christ, who told us to forgive one another “seventy times seven” (Mt 18:22) has given us his example: he has forgiven us seventy times seven. // Time and time again he bears us on his shoulders. // No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love. // With a tenderness which never disappoints, but is always capable of restoring our joy, he makes it possible for us to lift up our heads and to start anew. // Let us not flee from the resurrection of Jesus, let us never give up, come what will. // May nothing inspire more than his life, which impels us onwards!

Simeon and Anna were invited to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, and they held the Baby Jesus in their arms. You and I are invited now to a renewed personal encounter with Christ, and in moments we will receive Him into our hands and onto our tongues. God NEVER tires of forgiving us… No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love! Hearing this beautiful invitation, may we respond with generous love!

 + A. M. D. G. +