20210202 PRESENTING GOD
02 February, 2021, Tuesday, The Presentation of the Lord
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: White.
When a Feast of the Lord is celebrated on a weekday there is only one reading before the Gospel, which may be chosen from either the first or second reading.
First reading | Malachi 3:1-4 © |
The Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter his Temple
The Lord God says this: Look, I am going to send my messenger to prepare a way before me. And the Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter his Temple; and the angel of the covenant whom you are longing for, yes, he is coming, says the Lord of Hosts. Who will be able to resist the day of his coming? Who will remain standing when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire and the fullers’ alkali. He will take his seat as refiner and purifier; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and then they will make the offering to the Lord as it should be made. The offering of Judah and Jerusalem will then be welcomed by the Lord as in former days, as in the years of old.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 23(24):7-10 © |
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
O gates, lift high your heads;
grow higher, ancient doors.
Let him enter, the king of glory!
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
Who is the king of glory?
The Lord, the mighty, the valiant,
the Lord, the valiant in war.
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
O gates, lift high your heads;
grow higher, ancient doors.
Let him enter, the king of glory!
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
Who is he, the king of glory?
He, the Lord of armies,
he is the king of glory.
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
When a Feast of the Lord falls on a weekday, there is no reading after the Psalm and before the Gospel.
Gospel Acclamation | Lk2:32 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The light to enlighten the Gentiles
and give glory to Israel, your people.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 2:22-40 © |
My eyes have seen your salvation
When the day came for them to be purified as laid down by the Law of Moses, the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, – observing what stands written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord – and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:
‘Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace,
just as you promised;
because my eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared for all the nations to see,
a light to enlighten the pagans
and the glory of your people Israel.’
As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected – and a sword will pierce your own soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’
There was a prophetess also, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.
When they had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God’s favour was with him.
PRESENTING GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ MALACHI 3:1-4; HEBREWS 2:14-18; LUKE 2:22-40 ]
Today, many of us live meaningless lives, without passion or zeal, simply because we live life superficially. This is the reality of the situation in the world. We are all so busy, pursuing one thing after another. There is the pressure of success and fame. We are supposedly so connected with the world through the internet and social media. There is so much information in the digital world that it is impossible to consume much deeply. Today, people read widely but no longer deeply. Our relationship with people is also superficial. We have so many friends on social media seeking attention, so much so we have no time to develop deep and inter-personal relationships with our loved ones. We all know each other superficially because we do not have so much time with and for each other. This superficial lifestyle also affects our relationship with God. We do not pray deeply but just say our prayers without thinking or interiorizing. When we pray our minds are far away from God, our hearts are not with Him.
In all these instances, we are not present to each other, whether with our fellowmen or with God. The Feast of the Presentation of our Lord is to make ourselves present to each other and to God. When Mary and Joseph presented themselves in the Temple with Jesus, it was in order to make themselves present to God in a most personal way. They went to the Temple to meet God, to encounter Him. This is the key to today’s celebration. Meeting God and encountering Him by presenting ourselves to Him. The ultimate Christmas gift that we can give to God is the gift of oneself.
The Feast of the Presentation concludes the Christmas season with us now carrying the candles of light, signifying that at Christmas, Christ came as the Light to overcome darkness. We who welcome Jesus into our lives, must now be the light to the nations. This was what Simeon said of Jesus, “Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace, just as you promised; because my eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared for all the nations to see, a light to enlighten the pagans and the glory of your people Israel.” We are called to bring Jesus to the world and reveal His face to humanity.
How can we best offer the gift of ourselves? We must first encounter God personally in our lives. Indeed, there can be no calling to religious life unless we have encountered Jesus deeply, otherwise, it is just another ambition and even a career. God wants to encounter us. He wants to meet us. This is what the first reading from the prophet Malachi is saying to us. God has been absent from Israel not because He had abandoned His people. On the contrary, it was because Israel was so corrupt and disobedient that God no longer spoke to them through the prophets. In fact, after Malachi, prophecy was silent was 450 years until the fulfillment of his prophecy that God would send His messenger to prepare the way for His arrival to meet us again. John the Baptist prepared us to welcome the Lord at Christmas.
Where would the Lord meet us? He meets us primarily in the Temple because that is His dwelling place. So we have Joseph and Mary with Jesus convening at the Temple with Simeon and Anna. Coming to the Temple for worship is where we feel the presence of God. However, God’s presence is more than just at the Temple. He is where we gather together. This is why during this Covid-19, the lack of presence in the church makes God’s presence less felt. Our encounter with God is not just between Him and us as individuals but in the community and with the community. This explains why on-line worship, whilst helpful for those who cannot come to church for one reason or another, cannot be the substitute for real worship because we end up being more individualistic. We pick and choose our preachers and we even worship alone. Indeed, it is significant that because Mary, Joseph, Jesus, Simeon and Anna came together, they found God together as well.
God also meets us through deep contemplation and prayer and a life of holiness. This is what Simeon and Anna show us. They were waiting for God to reveal Himself to them. Simeon “was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple.” Simeon was attentive to the voice of God and the prompting of the Holy Spirit. He might have grown old and his hearing was diminished, but he heard God clearly and He was there to meet the Lord when Jesus came. So too was Anna. She “never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.” Indeed, in contemplation, prayer and holiness, we wait for God to speak and to reveal Himself. Those of us who do not give themselves to the Lord and make time for prayer and contemplation cannot hear God speaking clearly to them, more so when in sin.
We also meet God through our elderly and our young. Today, there is what we call a generation gap. The old and elderly are among themselves. The young gather on their own. Both groups feel disconnected from each other. This leads to misunderstanding, friction and resentment. In truth, it is said that one is never old by age and one can be young at heart. It has to do with the mind more than the body. When we communicate with young people and share their passions and aspirations, we become young. When young people make time to talk to the elderly, they will learn to be more realistic in life, to dream dreams, but grounded in reality. Otherwise, when they fail to fulfill their dreams they become disheartened and discouraged. Speaking with the elderly will help them to gain wisdom in living; a wisdom that cannot be acquired through books but through life experiences and prayer.
A special word must be said of women revealing the face of God to us. Mary was given prominence in the gospel. Simeon told Mary, “You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected – and a sword will pierce your own soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.” Mary is the one who brings us to Jesus. Through her identification with her Son’s sufferings, she became the mother of the Church. So too the prophetess Anna, who “she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.” Women have much to offer to the Church today when it comes to knowing God and understanding His love and mercy for us.
There is still another place where we meet God. It is through our suffering and struggles. Both women just mentioned suffered much. Mary in becoming the mother of Jesus suffered from the moment the angel announced to her of God’s election of her to be the mother of the Messiah. She was misunderstood, not just when she conceived our Lord, but during the ministry of Jesus. Most of all, she suffered with Jesus when He was rejected and crucified on the cross. The prophetess Anna too suffered much. She was in her early 20’s when she became a widow after only seven years of marriage. But she did not grow bitter and resentful. Instead, she grew to be a contemplative and was always grateful to the Lord for what she had; not what she had lost. Through their sufferings, they identified with the aspirations of their peoples and with God.
This is why the Lord Himself suffered for us so that He could identify with us, and through His suffering, we see God and meet His love and mercy. Hebrews tells us that “since all the children share the same blood and flesh, Christ too shared equally in it, so that by his death he could take away all the power of the devil, who had power over death, and set free all those who had been held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. It was essential that he should in this way become completely like his brothers so that he could be a compassionate and trustworthy high priest of God’s religion, able to atone for human sins. That is, because he has himself been through temptation he is able to help others who are tempted.” Through suffering, we learn to identify ourselves with our brothers and sisters, and even identify with Jesus so that we will not lose hope or be discouraged when we suffer.
Indeed, meeting and encountering God deeply in Jesus, in prayer, in contemplation, in worship and in our fellowmen, young and old, sick and the suffering, we are called to reveal the face of God to each other in this world. Some are called to religious life, a life of total consecration to God so that sharing in His love and contemplating on His mercy, they can live a life in complete union with Him through a life of chastity, obedience and poverty. This is why religious live in community too, because this is where God’s love is experienced concretely in life situations, with members of the community supporting each other in love and prayer, empowering each other to reach out to those outside of their community. It is through the apostolate of the religious, whether in contemplative activity or social and humanitarian works, that they continue to encounter God and reveal Him at the same time. Truly, religious life, when lived with total consecration, is a foretaste of the life to come; a life of love and communion, in self-giving and self-emptying, a life of holiness.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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