Luke 2:22-40
Today we celebrate the Presentation of the Lord. In some parts of Christendom this feast is called Candlemas, or something like that in other languages. It used to be a day when candles for the liturgical year would be blessed. And that in turn is related to Simeon’s prophecy when he refers to Jesus as the light of revelation to the Gentiles. In our Roman Catholic tradition, we are big on candles. We have the easter candle, which is trotted out for baptisms and funerals, symbolizing Christ’s presence at these major life events. We have the candle before the tabernacle, a constant reminder that Jesus is present, body and blood, soul and divinity, in the Eucharist which the tabernacle encloses. And of course we have the candles we use for Mass, showing a connection between all masses, which indeed are basically one perpetual sacrifice we offer to God. When I was growing up I just assumed there would be lots of candles in heaven.
All we know about Simeon is that he was righteous and devout, and had received a revelation from the Holy Spirit that he would witness the Messiah of God before he died. After a lot of waiting the Spirit whispers -- this baby is the one! And Simeon takes the baby and offers the prayer that clergy and religious sisters and brothers say everyday in the evening, “Now Master you may let your servant go in peace …”
For Luke’s gentile audience it’s enough to point out that the prophecy came from the Spirit. The early Church was Spirit driven as far as we can tell -- kind of charismatic. But Luke’s churches had JEwish Christians as well, and that’s why Anna is important and why we know a lot more about her background. She is a true daughter of Israel, descended from Asher, one of the twelve sons of Jacob. Her life of prayer and her background make her a worthy prophet for Jewish people.
But think about Mary and Joseph. They have been through very upsetting times. Angels, shepherds, wise men; exile into Egypt, and now another indication that this child of theirs is the Holy One of God. And what is next?
They go home, they wait. They do the ordinary things that people do, cleaning, cooking, working at a trade, going to the synagogue -- I wonder whether they ever talked about the remarkable beginning of Jesus’ life. I wonder if they felt as though it had all been a dream. Certainly if their boy was the MEssiah, it didn’t seem to make a difference in their day to day lives.
Luke tells us more than once that Mary pondered these things in her heart. I imagine Mary, sitting in the candlelight in the evening, mending a garment or sewing on a button, because if she was like my grandmother, her hands were always busy. Mary is pondering in her heart. And she is always waiting. And she has never forgotten that old Prophet who told her “you yourself a sword shall pierce”. That was the first sorrow, according to our tradition. The flight into Egypt to escape Herod’s soldiers was the second. The loss of Jesus in the temple was the third. The next four sorrows have to do with the last hours of Jesus -- Mary meeting him on the road to calvary, Mary watching him die on the cross; Mary receiving the dead body of her son, and Mary witnessing his burial. And there were other sorrows as well, I’m sure -- the death of Joseph being one; maybe the day Jesus left home to go on mission. But at the presentation all these things were in the future.
And how often in the months and years to come as they watch their son learn to walk and talk, as they teach him how to pray and how to practice trade, how often did Mary and Joseph wonder whether it was all a dream. This child, this MEssiah of God -- what a responsibility to be his parents. And they had no direction, they had to do the best they could and deal with each day as it came. And yet their attention to the little things of life, their efforts to do everything as well as they could, and their utmost trust in God to see that their work accomplished what God wanted of them was what got them through the challenges of their lives.
Today as we think about the candles let us again remember that God works through us in ways we probably don’t have a clue about. Let us be comfortable in his presence.
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