Feast of the Presentation

Gospel – Luke 2:22-40

We Are Family

Church of St. Joseph, Nazareth

5 extremely short stories to start the day!

Once all the people in a village decided to pray for rain. On the day of prayer, all the people gathered, but only one boy came with an umbrella. That is faith.

When you throw babies in the air, they laugh because they know you will catch them. That is trust.

Every night we go to bed without any assurance of being alive the next morning, but we still set the alarm to wake up. That is hope.

We plan big things for tomorrow in spite of zero knowledge of the future. That is confidence.

We see the world suffering, but still, we get married and have children. That is love.

Faith, hope, love, confidence and trust!  Sounds like a perfect list of values/virtues for a happy family!

Today’s Gospel tells us of another family – the Holy Family going up to Jerusalem with the baby Jesus to present Him to the Lord in the Temple, a religious tradition that takes place 40 days after the birth of the first-born.  Parents would present their first-born as an offering to the Lord and then redeem him back with a sacrifice of 2 turtledoves or young pigeons.

And it is there that they meet the Prophet Simeon who rejoices that his eyes have beheld the Savior of the world!   He held Him in his arms, blessed Him and blessed Mary and Joseph.  And then he predicted that this child would be the glory for His people Israel and a light of revelation for the Gentiles

Then we turn to the prophetess Anna.  She is completely alone in the world.  She is a widow and elderly.  There is no one looking out for her welfare, no one to help out, and no support system at all to see to her needs.  She is probably homeless as well since she spends night and day in the Temple area. 

You would think she would be miserable and despondent over her circumstances.  And yet the opposite is true.  For fifty years she has dedicated herself to the Lord; she spends her time in prayer and fasting.  And when she does encounter the Holy Family, she breaks out in praise and thanksgiving for having seen the Savior.  And she announces the news to all she meets. She is the definition of ‘devotion.’  She has given her life in service to the Lord, willingly and gladly! She spends her life praying and fasting with no hint of regret or bitterness at what life has thrown at her.

I have to wonder how Mary and Joseph are responding to these first few days of Jesus’ life.  Mary had been visited by an angel and learns she will bear the Savior.  Joseph will be visited by an angel who warns him to take his family and flee to Egypt.  And then Simeon and Anna bless the infant baby and rejoice over the coming of the Messiah. Mary and Joseph!  You should be so proud. 

And yet I wonder how terrified they must have been.  This is the Savior of the world!  How do we raise Him?  How do we educate Him?  How do we know we are on the right path as parents?  Can you imagine the fears, the stress, the concerns about their parenting skills?

The Gospel ends with a curious line.   “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him”.  And that’s it!  Except for one other story of Jesus being lost in the Temple, we know nothing else about His early life, nothing!  No pictures!  No video!  No other stories! No backyard birthday parties!  No family photos! Nothing until He is about 30 years old.  Those ‘hidden years’ are summed up in that one sentence. 

It seems unsatisfying; we want to know more.  But maybe that really is all we need to know!  Under the guidance of His parents, He grew, became strong and filled with wisdom.  And through it all, the favor of God was upon Him! And that is what we can celebrate today – Jesus being presented to His Heavenly Father in the Temple and then, under the guidance of the Spirit, being raised by His earthly parents, Mary and Joseph, in wisdom, in grace and in faith, in hope, in confidence and in trust!  Perhaps it’s a reminder of those virtues from the stories above!  Perhaps those are the perfect virtues for new parents to instill in their newborn child and to mirror in their own lives!

For all of us struggling in the darkness of winter, of sickness and separation, of despair and loss, may the Lord grace us, just like Jesus, Mary and Joseph, with that same hope and faith to make Him the center of our own family’s life!