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“The Presentation of Christ in the Temple”
by Francesco Bassano, c. 1570’s |
Readings for the Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas [1]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
Readings and Commentary: [3]
Reading 1: 1 John 2:3-11
Beloved:
The way we may be sure that we know Jesus
is to keep his commandments.
Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not keep his commandments
is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But whoever keeps his word,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.
This is the way we may know that we are in union with him:
whoever claims to abide in him ought to walk just as he walked.
Beloved, I am writing no new commandment to you
but an old commandment that you had from the beginning.
The old commandment is the word that you have heard.
And yet I do write a new commandment to you,
which holds true in him and among you,
for the darkness is passing away,
and the true light is already shining.
Whoever says he is in the light,
yet hates his brother, is still in the darkness.
Whoever loves his brother remains in the light,
and there is nothing in him to cause a fall.
Whoever hates his brother is in darkness;
he walks in darkness
and does not know where he is going
because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
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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!
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name.
R. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!
Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
R. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!
The LORD made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty go before him;
praise and grandeur are in his sanctuary.
R. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!
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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
When the days were completed for their purification
according to the law of Moses,
the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord,
just as it is written in the law of the Lord,
Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,
and to offer the sacrifice of
a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,
in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.
This man was righteous and devout,
awaiting the consolation of Israel,
and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit
that he should not see death
before he had seen the Christ of the Lord.
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:
“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.”
The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;
and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
“Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
(and you yourself a sword will pierce)
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
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Commentary on Lk 2:22-35
St. Luke’s account of Jesus being presented in 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 in 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.”
CCC: Lk 2:22-39 529, 583; Lk 2:25 711; Lk 2:26-27 695; Lk 2:32 713; Lk 2:34 575, 587; Lk 2:35 149, 618
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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 in the temple. The Church celebrates a separate feast to honor this occasion later (February 2nd). As we consider the event 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.
What practical lesson do we take away from Scripture? The focus of the Gospel is God’s presence in the life of the Holy Family. Certainly, we must see the bond between Joseph, Mary and the Christ Child as somewhat unique in the sense that God is in their home both spiritually and literally. But there is the example of how faith welds the family together. It does not happen accidentally. Rather through active family participation in the life of faith, forming that incredible first domestic church, the Christ Child is protected and nurtured. His mission of salvation is, as far as possible, protected from the worst elements of the society in which he grows up.
The parents of this age have a much more difficult task. First, the local community in which they live is probably not supportive of the moral and ethical teaching of the faith. That means when the child leaves the protection of the home, they will be exposed to the worst of secular humanism from their peers and teachers. Even in the home, technology lets in this erosive and insidious temptation to lead them away from the faith. Parents today must work very hard to create the Light of Christ about which St. John so eloquently speaks in his letter heard today.
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.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
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