Homily

Under the Law of Moses, when a male child was born, the mother became ritually unclean for seven days, and for 33 days after that she was forbidden to touch holy objects or enter holy places before her purification. Two offerings were to be made at the temple, although Luke only mentions one of them. (1) A year-old lamb, which would be burnt up as a holocaust sacrifice, and (2) a sin-offering of a dove or turtledoves. If the couple were poor, a dove could be sacrificed in place of the lamb, and that's how we come by a pair of doves, or pigeons. Once these sacrifices were given over, the priest made atonement for the mother and declared her ritually clean. And you can sense the irony here—Mary, the All-Pure One who gave birth to the Son of God obviously has no need of any purification, but she and Joseph obey the Law in humility and with faith.

According to Jewish tradition the first-born son was thought, generally, to have the qualities most like his father. He would succeed his father as the head of the household or clan. He had the greatest authority among the siblings, was given the greatest respect and received the largest share of any inheritance. The first-born son was considered as belonging to God.

Here then, in the temple, they came across an elderly man who was righteous and devout and had been waiting for the consolation of Israel. Like other people in Luke's gospel, he was a holy man because he was hopeful and expecting to see God's mercy and relied on that mercy coming, with great faith and patience. The spirit of God, which had touched so many prophets in the land of Israel in times past, now told him that this child was The One, calling Him "Messiah" or the Anointed of the Lord, the Anointed King of God, the expected Jewish Messiah. And Simeon takes the child in his arms and speaks the beautiful prayer, "Now you may dismiss your servant, O Lord, according to Your word in peace…." Simeon says he has seen God's salvation, right there in his own arms, and indeed the name Jesus is Yeshua or Joshua—meaning, "Yahweh saves."

Then Simeon tells Mary that Jesus will be responsible for the rise and fall of many, as she herself predicted in the Magnificat, when she said that God will cast down the mighty from their thrones and lift up the lowly. Those who hear and accept Jesus will surely be lifted up. Those who reject Him plot their own downfall.

Simeon says that Mary herself will be pierced with a sword, and over the centuries many have debated exactly what that means. Some of the Fathers have suggested that perhaps Mary had doubts or hesitation. But it seems that most would go with the idea that the sword represents the sorrow of a humble woman who is living with the burden of the greatest vocation ever to be given a human being, or the pain and difficulty of a woman having to live in the face of this profound mystery, or perhaps the sorrow of a loving Mother who will see the vengeance that will be paid out on Him Who is All-innocent.

St. Luke is an equal opportunity evangelist, so he also tells us the story of Anna, an elderly woman, also just and pious, constantly at prayer and fasting. She is the female equivalent of Simeon. Luke says she became a kind of apostle after meeting the infant Jesus and went about talking about Him to those who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. The word "deliverance" or "redemption" refers to liberation, or freedom, the ransoming or buying back of a slave, or paying off a debt. Zechariah had prophesied at the birth of John the Baptist: "Blessed be The Lord the God of Israel, for he has visited and brought redemption to his people." Anna now sees the redemption of God's people right in front of her, not in the form of mighty power and strength, but rather in the form of a baby who is only 40 days old.

If you look at a desk calendar, what does it say today is? Groundhog Day! In certain places in Europe there were folk customs about weather predictions made on the Feast of the Encounter, also called the Presentation of Our Lord, also called in the West, the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary or Candlemas Day. But in our own culture we managed to get rid of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Simeon and Anna, and all we are left with is a groundhog. Seriously.

There's nothing wrong with the fun of watching a groundhog (for those who think watching a groundhog is fun). Of course not. But we seem to have a great talent for taking what are holy, substantial, worthy of attention, life-altering, and life-giving events that touch at the very core of the meaning of our lives in this world and chucking them out in favor of what is inconsequential, superficial, frivolous and temporary.

Here is something worth thinking about: Like Simeon, I too carry Christ when I bring Him down from the altar to give Him to you. As you receive Holy Communion then it is you who also carry Jesus within yourselves. What will you say to Him when He comes to you? Today, right after Holy Communion is distributed, we will have a minute or two of silence so that we may speak to the Lord and be open to His word.

Maybe we'll want to know what a Pennsylvania groundhog did today, but right now, right here, for the sake of our lives, for the health of our souls, for the peace of our minds, let us imitate Simeon and embrace Jesus, especially in the Holy Eucharist, so that we may carry Him with us as well, so that we may be dismissed from this Liturgy in His peace.