Today is one of those feast days that can catch you out. We are now in
Ordinary Time, but today’s feast is one of a handful of feasts in the year that are
considered as more important than the ordinary Sundays of the year, so roughly
once every maybe six years it is celebrated on a Sunday, and sometimes the
leap year might mean that it misses a Sunday and isn’t seen again until it next
comes round to a Sunday again.
I don’t remember ever celebrating this feast as a child on Sunday. I’m sure I
would have done, especially if it involved holding a candle. It’s sometimes
called Candlemas because we begin with lighted candles, processing to the
altar celebrating Christ being taken to be presented in the Temple. There was
all the drama when Christ was born, and the angels announced his birth. Now,
five miles away in Jerusalem, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Simeon
and Anna go to the Temple at the right moment and get to meet the Child.
Around this time in history, various Jews were looking towards the coming of
the Messiah, with different ideas of what he might do.
The Jews in Palestine could see that things seriously fell short. They were
ruled by Rome, or by a king put in place by Rome and had to pay taxes to
Rome. Their religion was compromised – the high priest only served with and
under Rome’s authority, with the high priest being chosen by a pagan. Hence
devout Jews had low regard for those who controlled the Temple. In the
prophecies, God had promised a rule by a descendent of David, an era of peace
and prosperity, God revealing His presence in the Temple in Jerusalem, Jews
returning from other lands back to their ancestral home, Gentiles either turning
to the God of Israel or at least being subject to Jewish rule, and God’s Spirit
being poured out. There were different opinions about how God would bring
all this about, but there was the expectation that this would happen soon. You
can imagine the sense of urgency with which people longed for this, even their
impatience. But God is a patient God. Simeon is at least grateful to have seen
the Messiah, and held Him in his arms; now he can die in peace, knowing that
God’s rescue plan is starting, but he’s too old to live to see it happen.
Imagine you were living at that time: Jesus, at the age of forty days, is
presented in the Temple. The next thing you know, they have to flee to Egypt
for safety as King Herod’s men go about trying to do away with Him, killing all
the young boys. It won’t be for another thirty years until Christ appears and
begins His public ministry. And then, it won’t be quite what some were
expecting. The rule of the descendent of King David will be a spiritual, not a
worldly one. He will reign over all peoples and nations, but not with a chariot,
gold crown and powerful armies.
We can look at our world and see that things are far from perfect as well. To
what extent does God rule? Where is His rule only paper thin, only skin deep,
or even openly opposed? We can also be impatient for change, and sometimes
that is the gift of the Holy Spirit. At other times, it can be the result of a more
destructive spirit. We need God’s revelation to help us discern. We also need
that gift of patience. It’s sometimes said that it was through Pope St John Paul
II consecrating the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary that communism
fell in Western Europe, but the fall of communism didn’t happen overnight. We
can speculate about how God exactly works in our world and how He doesn’t,
but the important thing is that Christ is with us and we do have hope.
Christ was presented in the Temple, and after that, it seemed like not much was
happening. But when Christ began His ministry, the whole world and the
whole of human history was changed. Christ may be working underneath the
surface at the moment, and it might seem once again like not much is
happening. But God is working something out. The Church is growing in
Africa and Asia, and perhaps here in the West, as people begin to see the depths
of the horrors of what happens when you abandon God and the depths of evil
some people descend to as a result, it might act as a wake-up call. As the
darkness deepens, the light of the Church shines all the more powerfully. As
the ugliness of sin grows around us, the beauty of Christ and a life of virtue
retains all its attractive force.
Christ is a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for the glory of the people of
Israel. Like Simeon and Anna, we may not see that glory take place in our land
in all its fullness, but we do know that God is at work, and that we do have to
wait with patience.
Curious about exploring things further? If you would like to ask further questions about the topics raised in these homilies (or maybe think it wasn’t explained too well!), please feel free to e-mail Fr Michael at stjoseph.thame@rcaob.org.uk