(Optional Memorial for Saint Thomas Becket, Bishop, Martyr)
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“The Presentation of Christ in the Temple”
by Francesco Bassano, c. 1570’s
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Commentary:
Reading 1: 1 John 2:3-11
Commentary on 1 Jn 2:3-11
This selection provides two consistent teachings of St. John. First is the injunction to keep Jesus' commandments. He uses the same formula we have heard before in this letter. If you say you belong to Christ but do not follow his commandments, you are a liar.
The second teaching is his favorite, perhaps because it is part of the great commandment and fundamental to everything taught by the Lord: “Love one another.” Here St. John again uses the darkness and light theme to demonstrate that the one who walks with Christ is in the light and the one who does not walks in darkness and is lost: “…he walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 5b-6
R. (11a) Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!
Commentary on Ps 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 5b-6
Psalm 96 is a song of praise acknowledging God as King of all the earth. It has roots in 1 Chronicles 16:8-36 as part of a chant of thanksgiving during the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant to the temple in Jerusalem, but most importantly it celebrates God’s omnipotence and enduring salvation.
CCC: Ps 96:2 2143
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Gospel: Luke 2:22-35
Commentary on Lk 2:22-35
St. Luke’s account of Jesus being presented at the Temple provides a unique insight into the Holy Family. They are faithful observers of the Law of Moses.
At the time Jesus is presented at the temple as required by strict Jewish Law, we find Simeon, probably an old man in the last years of his life (“…looking forward to the restoration of God's rule in Israel”). Simeon does two important things here: he affirms the nativity story with his profession of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the one who came for all, so that all might be renewed in Christ and in God the Father, (“…my own eyes have seen the salvation which you prepared in the sight of every people, a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel”).
The second of Simeon’s actions is to predict to Mary the difficulty her Son will encounter in his ministry (“…to be a sign that will be contradicted”), and the pain it will cause Mary herself: “and you yourself a sword will pierce.”
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Reflection:
Sacred scripture paints another aspect of the picture surrounding the events of the Nativity of the Lord with the story of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. The Church celebrates a separate feast to honor this occasion later in the year (February 2nd). As we consider what takes place in this setting, the Presentation takes its place with other things going on in the life of the Holy Family. We know that they must flee to Egypt and that Herod committed infanticide to stop the infant Jesus from fulfilling his task. We are not precisely sure of the exact timing (according to Hebrew Law, this event should have occurred forty days following Jesus’ birth), but like all things in the remarkable life of Jesus, this one too has a purpose.
The event itself shows that Mary and Joseph are scrupulous in following Hebrew regulations. This is important because the Jews at the time, who would have been the first Christians, must have been taught that accepting Christ was not something that went against their faith, but was a completion of it. The Holy Family did not flout Jewish Law and tradition as some of the contemporary religious leaders were trying to say; they were faithful to a fault.
In the temple they encounter another important person in Simeon. Simeon, we are told, was a holy man whom God had already blessed with a long and faithful life. His final desire, the prayer request he had made of God, was that he be allowed to see the Hebrew Prophecy of the coming Messiah fulfilled. Through the eyes of faith, his prayer was answered and he called out (in the words of our Night Prayer Canticle):
“Lord, now let your servant go in peace;
your word has been fulfilled:
my own eyes have seen the salvation
which you prepared in the sight of every people,
a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel
Mary and Joseph must have been surprised by this, in spite of their previous angelic counseling and the events of the Lord’s birth. (This event necessarily followed the arrival of the Magi and their return from Bethlehem so they would accept this kind of reaction from individuals who were filled with God’s spirit.) It may not even have surprised them that they were singled out among all the other parents bringing in children for this kind of attention, even though there were almost certainly many others following the same prescription of the law.
For us, now hearing this story once more, these amazing circumstances do not cause us to be surprised or awe-stricken as those first Jewish converts must have been. What it should do, however, is remind us that this event represents another step in our continuous encounter with God the Most High Father, an encounter that has been taking place since the beginning of human existence. Today, still basking in the glow of the festival lights of Christmas, we are reminded that this event is a beginning, and that what must now unfold is to fulfill the Father’s plan. We remember also that that great plan continues and that we are a part of it.
Pax
[1] The picture is “The Presentation of Christ in the Temple” by Francesco Bassano, c. 1570’s
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