By Sister Doreen, SSJD
“When the day came for them to be purified, as laid down by the law of Moses, the couple took Jesus up to Jerusalem and presented him to God”(Luke 2:22).
The story of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, with Mary and Joseph, centers around the two figures of Simeon and Anna – both ordinary prayerful people who had longed for what the prophet Malachi spoke of when he said that God promised to come to set the people free and how God’s messenger would purify those who can ‘see’ what God is doing for them. (Malachi 1:5).
In The Message translation of Malachi, the words that God speaks are: “Yes take a good look. Then you’ll see how faithfully I’ve loved you and you’ll want even more saying, ‘may God be even greater, beyond the borders of Israel!
Every year as we keep this feast, I find something new that seems to gift me with a new understanding and a new opportunity to ponder a deeper meaning. This year I was moved by the word “see.” “I see you” is such a common expression, one that indicates that we can observe and watch someone with our eyes. Yet both Simeon and Anna in their “I see you” go beyond the basic meaning of “I can observe you and your activities with my own eyes – I can see you.” Both of them, when they were moved by “I see you” were acknowledging a deeper and more fundamental level of seeing, one that recognized “I value and care about you” as they held Jesus and spoke of seeing what God is doing. The Message translation of Malachi highlights that “deeper and more … even greater and beyond.” In a real sense this feast focuses in on the message of God as not just for a select few but for all of us, regardless of our background or circumstances. It is a very active recognition surrounded by mystery and paradox and contradiction as we will see when we consider the song that Simeon sings.
It made me ask myself a question: do I realize God in our midst? Do we realize God in our midst? While we know God is present and waiting for our welcome, perhaps our responsibility and our privilege might be more intentional to ‘seeing’ and acknowledging God’s presence in our lives, in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in – and even globally, do we try to ‘see’ God’s presence in the world, the broken world around us?
Simeon took the child into his arms and blessed God:
“God, you can now release your servant; release me in peace as you promised.
With my own eyes I’ve seen your salvation; it’s now out in the open for everyone to see:
A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations, and of glory for your people Israel.”
Jesus’ father and mother were speechless with surprise at these words. Simeon went on to bless them, and said to Mary his mother, “This child marks both the failure and the recovery of many in Israel. A figure misunderstood and contradicted— the pain of a sword-thrust through you—but the rejection will force honesty, as God reveals who they really are” (Luke 25 – 35, The Message translation).
Pope Francis said: “Simeon took him in his arms and thanked God that he had finally ‘seen’ salvation. Anna, despite her advanced age, found new vigor and began to speak to everyone about the Baby. It is a beautiful image: two young parents and two elderly people, brought together by Jesus. He is the one who brings together and unites generations! He is the inexhaustible font of that love which overcomes every occasion of self-absorption, solitude, and sadness.”
This feast makes it clear for us, that longing for, praying for the insight to ‘see’, to see from the heart, which opens up for us the opportunity to ‘see’ God in the ordinary moments of life. It reminds us that God is made known in many ways, often through people, and in ways we do not expect or imagine.
I thought also of how this feast points to how God ‘sees’ us, how God ‘sees’ me in this deeper way, how God shares fully in our humanity, how God shares fully in me, in us as a precious person, in me as a precious person – chosen and held in the tenacious, unconditional love of God. God truly ‘sees’ us in the depth of our need, our brokenness and has chosen to share in our need and journey with us. God coming to live amongst us, God dying and rising – we have ‘seen’ the depth of God’s love for us.
On this feast day, we are given an invitation to present ourselves, offer ourselves – called to let God enter into the temple of our hearts. It is not only Jesus presented in the temple, it is also you and me, all of us – presented to the entire world. God is given to the entire world as a light shining in the darkness of our lives, uniting us in his love and grace. May the joyful vision of God’s compassionate love and forgiveness and mercy be ours in a new and deeper way, that we may ‘see’ the glory of God wherever and in whomever we meet.
Hymn Book Gather #104 text by Sylvia Dunstan
Now, O Lord, dismiss your servants with your word:
Give us release. For our eyes have seen salvation.
Promised ever to increase. Lord, dismiss us, Lord, dismiss us:
Now let us depart in peace.
Light, enlightening every people, glory of Israel.
Seen in visions of the sages, heard in what the prophets tell.
Lord, dismiss us, Lord dismiss us, now in every spirit dwell.
Child of Mary, sign of wonder. By you, many rise and fall.
In the speaking and the silence, pierce our hearts and break our walls.
Lord, dismiss us, Lord, dismiss us; now our God, our life, our all.
Sign of wonder, many rise and fall. In the silence break our walls.
O Lord, O Lord, now our life, our life, our all.
Arise, shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord is shining upon you!