FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME C/ FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION (Feb. 2)
THE LORD COMES TO THE TEMPLE
Luke 2:22-40 or 2:22-32
MESSAGE
Something so dramatic is commemorated today as we celebrate this Sunday the exciting Feast of the Lord’s Presentation in the Temple. When the singing choirs of angels returned to heaven, when the startled shepherds were again busy pasturing, when the Magi took the road home to the East, when the star of Bethlehem dimmed, Joseph and Mary with the Child Jesus were finally left alone… alone to start their quiet family life… alone to live in an ordinary setting… alone to become simple homemakers, workers, neighbors. And as Joseph and Mary brought the Child Jesus to the Temple, they were not celebrities but ordinary folks doing what all the others were doing – obeying the Law, worshipping God in the Temple, fulfilling their duties.
Of course, for sensitive hearts like the seer Simeon and the prophetess Anna, the truth could not be hidden; this Child was destined for the for the “fall and rise of many.” But for Jesus himself, this episode of his presentation in the Temple was his way of beginning his mission, not as unique, not special, not sensational, but as one like his brothers and sisters. As the Letter to the Hebrews said: he had to become like his brothers and sisters in order for him to be their faithful and merciful priest.
The Light has come to the world, but his light is not blinding light; the Savior has appeared but without force or coercion; the King dwelt among his subjects, but as a brother and friend. Our salvation comes through ordinary and simple things, events, and places. May this be our guide as we return to the church’s Ordinary Time.
REFLECT
Let us pray to be sensitive to the presence of God in the daily happenings in our lives and around us. Let us see the Lord in the faces of the people we meet each day, the people we encounter, the people we live with. Let us welcome the Lord as we accept our own weak and ordinary human nature.
