The readings for Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (Year A) May be found at:
I can guarantee you that I’m going to say some things I’m sure you didn’t expect to hear when you walked into Mass today. As you sat down, you probably didn’t expect that I’d be talking about what Chiefs, Forty-Niners, Groundhogs, Candles, Indiana Jones, Jesus and February 2nd would all have in common. At first blush, you might think - not so much, but hopefully you’ll think differently in a few minutes time.
First - we’ll deal with the elephant in the room. Anywhere other than New England, the Super Bowl down in Miami is a big deal. In case you’ve been trying to not pay attention to it, like I have, it’s on February 2nd. The Chiefs and Forty-Niners will play and I will watch parts of it, if for no other reason, than for the commercials.
Also on February 2nd, in a rural township in Pennsylvania, a bunch of folks in tuxedos and top hats will gather well before dawn to pull a groundhog out of a tree stump to see if he casts a shadow or not. This is supposed to tell us if we have six more weeks of winter or not, but, I think we all know a groundhog can’t predict the weather. And if we’re honest, we know we’ve been pretty lucky with the weather so far.
February 2nd is also the date where we recognize an ancient Christian feast known as Candlemas - sounds a little like Christmas, but it’s Candlemas, which you might know is the absolute latest day you’re supposed to have your Christmas decorations up - so hopefully yours are put away for next year. At home, we just put away our Nativity set, so we’re all set. But more importantly, Candlemas, is so named because of the blessing of candles that takes place in Church and that it recalls how Jesus, born 40 days ago on December 25th, gives us all light and is the light of the world.
Also on February 2nd, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord that commemorates when Mary and Joseph, like many other Jewish parents in the old world would take their first born son to the temple and offer him to God. When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple, Simeon, who we can think of as a prophet of sorts, recognized the importance of this particular child - calling the baby Jesus - the light of the world. Another significance of the Presentation that sometimes is overlooked is that when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple it was in fact, God returning to the temple to dwell among his people. In the Old Testament, and if you are into movies like Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark you might recall, that the Israelites always carried with them the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark, had in it, the tablets of God’s commandments, manna from heaven and the staff of the first Israelite priest Aaron. The Ark and its contents literally meant to the Israelites that God was with them. When Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, it meant the Israelites had a permanent place where God could be physically with them - that was until, the Ark went missing some years later when the Babylonians invaded Jerusalem and took it. Now the Ark and its contents were never found and no, Indiana Jones the fictional archeologist never found it - that was just a movie. But when Mary and Joseph came to the temple and presented Jesus, God actually returned to the temple - literally in the person of Jesus. God was again with them.
In a few moments, when Monsignor presides over the Liturgy of the Eucharist, Jesus will literally be with us - body, blood, soul and divinity right here in the Eucharist, not a symbol, not just a wafer, but fully and truly present right here with us in the Mass, allowing us, if we are properly disposed, to be in physical communion with him filling us with the light of Christ.
As Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the temple, let us take this gift of light in Jesus and allow him to light the world through us to the people we come into contact with - in our actions, in our words, in how we carry ourselves, in our patience, in our gratitude, in how we love, in the things we say and the things we choose not to say. Let us carry this light, not just on February 2nd, but on this day and every day after - because as we recognize today - God is with us.
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