Come to the Temple

Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2014 A

The Feast of the Presentation

By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ

Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; and suddenly there will come to the temple the LORD whom you seek, and the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.  Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.  Malachi 4:1

Therefore, he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God to expiate the sins of the people.  Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.  Hebrews 2:17-18

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.”  Luke 2:27-29a 

Piety

Sometimes it is hard to see laws, rubrics and regulations as a significant part of Piety. Mary knew so much more than we do about the Kingdom of heaven. The Commandments are reflections of God’s life passed on to us. Rubrics are regulations for doing things in a certain way. Christ saw himself as the fulfillment of the law. How we look at the rules and regulations of the Church involves us in the life of the Church. The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ and how we relate to the Church is how well we relate to Christ. Christ is the fulfillment of all the rules, regulations and rubrics that make up the formulary of the Church’s life. We follow the footsteps of Christ as we grow in our ability to love the Father through Christ. In Christ we have our claim on the life of God. Christ is the answer to all that we are looking for. The presentation of Christ in the Temple is the formal beginning of the Temple life of Christ. We know by our piety how to be genuine children of God. Our Church life is the flowering of our piety that helps us to belong to God as his children.

Study

The Presentation is the giving of Christ back to the Father. Simeon and Anna are the formal acceptance of Christ. They stand in as the approval of the offering of Mary and Joseph of Jesus back to the Father. The faithfulness of the parents to the prescriptions of the Law teaches us the importance of doing what we do to the best of our ability to return ourselves to the Father. We are old enough to make the offering for ourselves in our own name. The Presentation is the challenge to bring all of ourselves back to God.

Action 

Jesus goes back with his parents to grow in wisdom and knowledge of who he is. We have the chance to offer ourselves each day in the ways we are of service to those who need us. We do not have to wait to be asked. We know that what we do for the least one of our brothers and sisters Christ takes as done for himself. We grow in wisdom and in knowledge by our experiences of serving Christ in each other. Even as the Father has loved Christ, Christ has loved us. The ways we give of ourselves for others is how we give ourselves back to Christ. God awaits the sacrifices we make of ourselves as our part of the plan of God for the human race. Our wisdom that flows out of being witness to what the parents of Christ did with Christ gives the deepest meaning of life to our actions in the name of Christ. The feast of the Presentation of Jesus makes a present of God’s love in all the presents of love and service we give to one another. The challenge is to give until we have nothing more to give. Since Christ fills our nothingness, it is then that we truly make a present of ourselves in Christ.