Word to the Wise
Saturday, February 2, 2008 - The Presentaiton of the Lord
[Malachi 3:1-4; Hebrews 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40]Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel. (from the gospel scripture for today) (T)herefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God to expiate the sins of the people. Because he himself ws tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested. (from the second scripture of the day) And suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek, and the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. (from the first scripture of the day)
The feast of the Presentation of the Lord is like one of those big grocery stores that I love to wander through when I'm visiting friends! There is a kind of sensory overload! In the case of this feast, there is a sort of scriptural and theological overload. The Middle Ages trumped the whole thing by calling it Candlemas and concentrating on blessing candles and processing with them lighted. Later on, those candles became part of the "blessing of the throats" on the feast of St. Blaise, Feb. 3 (trumped this year by the Sunday, but you better bet I'll be blessing throats after Mass that day). The scriptures for the day each offer great possibilities for thought and I cannot help but mention that the first one from Malachi contains two of the great arias from Handel's MESSIAH! (But who may abide...... and He shall purify...) The contemporary emphasis speaks to the subject of Jesus and the Temple. By the time the gospels were put into writing, the temple in Jerusalem was in ruins, destroyed by the Romans after the First Jewish Revolt, 66-70AD. Jesus came to be recognized as "replacing" the temple. The Canticle of Simeon (known by its Latin beginning: Nunc Dimittis) is an expression of completion. The Letter to the Hebrews speaks to a new kind of priesthood that does not require the temple made by human hands. The prophecy of Malachi calls to mind Jesus' own gesture of "purifying" the temple. I have been in temples humble and in temples magnificent - from mission chapels in Mississippi to St. Peter's in Rome. The house matters not. It is the one who dwells there that makes chapel or basilica a sacred space - a "home for God in the Spirit." Indeed, we carry that dwelling with us as St. Paul notes when he admonishes us that we are God's dwelling. (Ephesians 2:22) A family friend, who was VERY large, loved to say to me, "If the body is God's temple, I am a basilica!" Ultimately, together with God, we make the space sacred! AMEN
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