Both Yours and His
Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
February1/2, 2025
St. Raphael – 4:30 p.m., 8:00 a.m.
1. Long before a child is even born, parents learn to fear the world in a whole new way - will the pregnancy go alright? will the baby be okay?
- it’s a beautiful time – pregnancy – but it’s also 40 weeks of worry!
- newborns inspire a sort of apocalyptic anxiety – a simple cold may elicit parental nightmares! A cough or the sniffles or colic can produce stress and agony - the pediatrician says not to worry but the fears never abate, but grow and evolve - as soon as the child begins to crawl or walk, you look at your home differently to make sure it’s “kid-proof” – that latches are placed on cupboards, and gates are put on stairways - when the child goes to school you worry about parents, strangers, bullies, depression, hormones, grades, goals, driving, college, careers and so on
- the fact is that these never really end – my brother’s short illness and death witnessed to this - not a day goes by that my mom doesn’t miss Rick or pray for him or remember him - if she could have wrapped him up in bubble wrap to protect him she would have - we worry about everything because, let’s face it, we worry about our children, a gift given by God himself
2. Today is the feast of the Presentation
- 40 days removed from the feast of the Nativity, today’s celebration brings the Christmas cycle to an end
- today we recall the Holy Family as they made their way to Jerusalem so that Mary could fulfill the Law regarding purification and to offer the infant Jesus to God, in according with the law set forth in the book of Exodus
- today we celebrate this poor, Jewish family, finding in their devotion the fulfillment of something bigger – the fulfillment of Israel’s hope, salvation and glory
3. In the fourth century, this feast was given the name “Candlemas”
- it was a day that people would bring their candles in procession to the church, offering a penny for each candle blessed by the priest (no longer required!)
- carrying candles into church signified the infant Jesus being carried into the temple by his mother
- the candles symbolized God’s protection against disaster either natural or demonic - it prefigures the final entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and becomes a preparation for the great drama of Lent and Holy Week
4. But I’d like to focus a bit on the human event of this feast
- like all parents, Mary and Joseph were filled with joy, exhaustion and wonder - and when they enter the temple they meet Simeon and an old woman, Anna, a prophetess - she begins to tell everyone she sees about this child, “He’s special” she says - this holy woman of faith who had lived most of her life in fasting and prayer saw deeper - and Simeon says the same thing calling Jesus, “the consolation of Israel” - but then he turns to Mary and speaks a somber tone – “this child is destined to be the fall
and rise of many in Israel – Simeon tells Mary, “a sword will pierce you” - it is some sort of prophecy of hope and pain, joy and sorrow, acceptance and rejection - but Mary and Joseph accept the will of God for their son, not fighting it but accepting it, realizing that THEIR son was also HIS son
5. A former dean of Duke Chapel used to talk about the angry phone calls he would occasionally get from parents with a similar complaint
- “We sent Suzie to Duke with her head on straight,” the parent would begin. “She was supposed to major in economics and go on to law school. But now she’s decided to become a missionary in Honduras. How could you let this happen. You have ruined her life!”
- We get similar concerns from parents of seminarians – not consenting to their son becoming a priest because they were supposed to be successful and create grandchildren - sometimes parents own desires for their children, their own hopes and dreams interfere with a child’s desire or what God wants for this child
- but the baptismal rite itself repeats over and over again that this child is a “child of God” - When a child is baptized we give the parents a candle and say, “see that the divine life God gives them is kept safe.”
- It means that, ultimately, we are called to love, nurture and care for those who have been given to us, a gift and blessing
6. There’s a beautiful poem by Edgar Guest that I have sometimes used when parents lose a son or daughter
- it’s titled, “I’ll lend this child to you”
- it speaks so beautifully of God choosing earthly parents to care for his beloved no matter how long or short their life may be
- it has brought so may people comfort when the loss of a child can’t be understood or explained or made sense of
7. Today we stand in the temple of God, not in Jerusalem or Nazareth but in Bay Village, Ohio - Simeon points to the Christ in our hearts, and our children, and tells us that the path ahead is glorious, but painful too
- What will you do? How will you respond?
- Religion must be more than a cultural habit or emotional entertainment
- if you’ve merely given the children the sacraments but not a living faith, if you say, you can’t remember the last time you came to Mass on Sunday but you’d never miss a lacrosse game on Sunday or hockey tournament out of town then this may not make much sense
- if, however, your religion is real, practiced and lived, then you will ask what the will of God is for you and your children?
- and then you will see the same light Simeon and Anna saw, shining now upon you and upon all those you love
- Recognizing that all you those you love belong, not just to you, but also to God
