At Last … and Not Yet!
With this weekend’s Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, we come to the end of the forty days of Christmas. We have listened to the stories of Jesus’ birth, the visit of the Magi, the baptism of the Lord, the wedding at Cana and now we close with the story of Jesus presentation in the temple.
This event echoes God’s words spoken through the prophet Malachi “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.” (Mal 3:1) Simeon, who had been told that he would not die until he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He comes into the temple that day, and takes the baby in his arms and proclaims the good news “Now you are dismissing your servant in peace….for my eyes have seen your salvation…” (Lk 2: 29,30) Anna, an aged prophet, also proclaims Jesus to everyone who would hear. If this were a drama series, we would be sitting on the edge of our seats, waiting to see what wonderful things would happen next. Instead, Luke tells us that Joseph and Mary returned to Nazareth and the child grew up. In some ways, the presentation in the temple is more about Mary’s purification forty days after giving birth than about the reign of God breaking into the world. The Good News of the Incarnation is proclaimed, some rejoice, and then we have to wait.
The individuals presented in today’s gospel passage provide models for us in living our own faith lives. Mary’s world was upended with the visit of the angel; she proclaimed her willingness to respond to God’s invitation to become the mother of the Messiah. She didn’t know what the future would bring, but she trusted in God’s promises and God’s love. Joseph, confronted by Mary’s pregnancy was forced to make a choice: divorce Mary quietly or take her into his home as his wife and raise this child. Trusting in the message given to him in the dream, he welcomed Mary and Jesus into his life and played a pivotal role in the story of salvation. Simeon and Anna believed in God’s promise to Israel and spent their lives in prayer and witness waiting for the fulfilment of the promise. While Simeon proclaimed his message to Mary and Joseph, Anna proclaimed the message to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. Each in their own way shared the Good News of God’s love for all.
Now we have to wait for the rest of the “story”. The evangelists will go on to detail Jesus’ ministry, his passion, death, resurrection and ascension into heaven. While Jesus concluded his ministry on earth, the mission is not yet completed. We, as disciples, are commissioned by Jesus to go out to the whole world, proclaim the Good News and build the kingdom. So it is not yet completed. The presentation in the temple proclaims the beginning of God’s redemptive presence in the world but that work is not yet finished. It will only be completed at the end of time. In the meantime, we are called to do our part, as Paul has reminded us these last couple of Sundays by using the gifts given to us by the Spirit for the common good, for the building up of the kingdom.
On this feast, we also celebrate the Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life. We give thanks for those women and men who, through their commitment as religious, to proclaim the Gospel and build the kingdom. We are reminded that religious life is a particular vocation in the Church, along with all other vocations and we are called to promote the consecrated life and encourage those whom God is calling (often through the encouragement of friends, family and community) to this particular vocation. One translation of Simeon’s proclamation begins “At last, all powerful Master…” While Simeon and Anna could rejoice that finally they see the fulfilment of God’s promise, we know the completion of that promise is not yet. We continue the work and wait for the final moment in the fulfilment of the promise.
By Richard Beaudette, OMI
