Sunday Homily—The Presentation
A powerful moment that gave foreshadowing to a spiritual revolution led by the Trinity.
Today is the Feast of the Presentation. It is one of those special Holy Days that supersedes Sunday. There is a powerful lesson for our time. First let us understand that Simeon and Anna who approach the Holy Family were not members of the Jewish clergy. They were basically lay people who also had special spiritual gifts and they were mystics.
Look carefully over their words and think of them as Mary and Joseph would hear them. Now remember we see read their words two-thousand years after the fact. So we read them in light of the two thousand years between them and us.
Never forget the big clock
Always remember everything you read in the Gospels that in the background is the big clock counting down to Masada, when the Romans destroyed the temple and eliminated the Jewish political state until 1948.
Simeon makes a startling revelation. This is the child who will be source of God’s message spreading to the Gentiles. I always remind you that is a big flag, not necessarily red. It is the fulfillment of the prophecy, all the world will worship the God of the Jews. Powerful words.
Notice further he warns that this child will bring great division and even Mary will suffer because of it. Some will embrace Jesus and others will reject him. Some will experience God’s glory through him and others will be cast down again because of him.
A spiritual revolution?
Take those words and what are they describing? A revolution that will come and he will be in the middle of it. We can look back and see these words and think of them in light of the next seventy years for the nation of Judah. They are indeed the last seventy years by the way. We can also remember that after the temple was destroyed by the Romans, basically only the wailing wall is left. The Dome of the Rock, a mosque, sits on that mount today. Today that same mount is the place of intense focus by people of three faiths all over the world. All of that is part of this moment we look at here.
The revolution described by Simeon happened and it is still happening but it is a spiritual revolution. Ironically, that is the most powerful of them all. We do not engage in political revolutions but spiritual ones and our battle is not against political forces but spiritual ones seeking to destroy humanity as St. Paul explained in Ephesians. We live it by being people of prayer and living out our Baptismal promises prayerfully.
The spiritual revolution is stronger than the political one even though it is much slower. Further, the forces in the revolution are the Kingdom of God bringing down the kingdom of the world and evil within it. The tools of the revolution are to be people who seek to live as Christ called us to the deepest level of prayer and holiness.
The Solidarity Movement
I remember I was at the BU Catholic Center and one of the students asked me about a picture on the wall. I explained that is Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko. He was a Polish Priest part of the Solidarity Movement who was murdered by the Soviets.
You may remember the Solidarity Movement was a non-violent movement that brought down the Soviet Union. Vatican Radio aired an episode of experts on Political movements and one man, who was connected to the US Government and may have had an association with the CIA explained that the Solidarity Movement worked because it was non-violent. It was a spiritual movement. The Soviets did not have a clue what to do with it. He said if the protestors took up arms, the Soviets would have marched in and subdued the movement. However, they had no idea what to do with non-violence.
When Fr. Jerzy Popieulusko was martyred by Soviet agents, one would expect the people would take up arms and attack the Soviets. They did not, they gathered together in prayer and prayed for him. The Soviets ended up caving soon after that because they had no concept of a spiritual battle.
Jesus is a powerful figure because he is God and part of the movement of the Trinity behind the scenes. We look at problems in our country and even the horrible crimes we see described by those making arrests in our country and we can ask how do people do these things? The answer is simple, they never heard or understood the truth of the Kingdom of God. Their actions may indicate our failures to live and teach the truth.
The role of the laity
Notice also both Simeon and Anna in the Gospel are lay people. They are not clergy; they are laity. The truth is we all have the calling to be people of prayer and of faith and live our faith as Simeon and Anna explain Jesus creates. Don’t wait for the bishops to act; you be open to prompting of the spirit like Simeon and Anna. We are seeing in the news what happens when our Gospel is not preached. The Gospel is within the flow of God’s action in our world. Let us hear the words from Simeon and Anna, recognize the truth of Christ and live it so that all may live in the truth Christ brought we see here as part of God’s movement in the world.
It is a movement we commit ourselves to every week when we attend Mass.
Fr. Robert J Carr is pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Allston, MA
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The newest edition of Fr Robert J Carr's latest book is now available. Christ in Our Humanity. You can find it here.