Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 2,22-40
When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph took Jesus 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 Messiah 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:
Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word,
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you prepared in sight of all the peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for 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.”
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.
When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
Peace to all my brothers and sisters listening in today!
Plucking blackberries and the Refiners fire
1. Plucking blackberries. Today Jesus is presented in the temple. In order to appreciate the magnitude and depth of this event one must know something of Israel’s history. Long ago, at the time of the Babylonian exile, when the temple was destroyed, the presence of the Lord had departed and no longer filled the temple as a cloud of glory. Years later, when the temple was rebuilt, the glory cloud, that is, the presence of God, did not return. Malachi however raises the hopes of Israel and prophesies what all of Israel was waiting for- namely that God himself would someday return to the temple, just as Ezekiel and Isaiah had prophesied. When God finally does return to the temple however He comes in the form of a baby and goes unrecognized by everyone except a prophet named Simeon and prophetess named Ana. This not only teaches us that God is a God of surprises, but that if we are ever to truly see God, we must be vigilant, and faith filled like Ana and Simeon. I personally think of the poor priest who was charged with the duty of purification. Unnamed and forgotten, he went about his daily routine as usual, and so was blind to who was before him, the King of Glory and thus missed the chance to acknowledge the one true and living God who came in the humble form of a baby. How many of us go through life in the same way, performing our tasks in a perfunctory way, praying without passion and hope and miss His glory. How many of us are trudging through our day half asleep and so unable to see the miraculous all around us. It reminds me of the poignant lines of Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem which states “Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God, but only he who sees takes off his shoes; The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”
2. What is the solution? Only the refiners fire can help purify us to see with the eyes of faith. The feast of the presentation is also called the feast of the purification. We need to be purified. Malachi reveals how the Lord is like the refiner’s fire which purifies silver. A group of women at a prayer group who heard this decided to investigate and learn more about the process of the purification of silver. They went to a refiner of silver and asked why is it that he has to sit during the refining process. The refiner explained that the process is very delicate – that the silver must be heated to a high enough temperature to ensure that all of the impurities are burned out but not too high so as to damage the silver. The refiner thus must sit and watch attentively. This insight helped them appreciate the watchful and caring eye of God. Before they left, they asked how is it that the refiner knows when the process is complete- if the silver is really purified. The refiner said that it’s easy when he can look into it and see his own image, then he knows it is ready. This is exactly what God does with us my brothers and my sisters He allows us to be sufficiently and perfectly purified until He look at us and see his own image, the image of His Son in each of us.
May God bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Amen.
Always remember heaven is our goal.
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