Presentation of the Lord

My Dear People,

Mary and Joseph are faithful observers of the law. Therefore, their child is circumcised, like John (1:59), when eight days were completed (Gen 17:12; Lev. 12:3). He is named Jesus in obedience to the word of the angel (Luke 1:31).

In Leviticus, the passage regarding circumcision continues by specifying “thirty-three days more” for the mother, “till the days of her purification are fulfilled” (Lev. 12:4). During this period following childbirth, she was considered ritually unclean and thus they go up to the Jerusalem temple for their purification. The journey allows them to fulfill another Jewish observance: to present Jesus the firstborn to the Lord.  “Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord” (Exodus 13:2, 12-15).

Mary and Joseph offer a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons; this reveals their poverty. Those who could afford it offered the combination of one lamb and one pigeon or turtledoves (Lev. 12:6).The combination of poverty and pious observance of the law (Luke 2:22-24,27,39) highlights how Mary and Joseph are among the righteous.

On a large scale, Luke’s reference to days being “completed” show that God’s plan of salvation as announced in Scripture is being fulfilled. Jesus the “Lord” (2:11) is brought to the temple, as Malachi had prophesied: “The Lord whom you seek will come suddenly to his temple” (Mal. 3:1). Also fulfilled are the seventy weeks prophesied by Gabriel (Dan 2:24), from Gabriel’s apparition to Zechariah in the temple until Jesus’ arrival in the temple.

In God’s plan, the event also includes the meeting with Simeon (2:25-35) and Anna (vv. 36-38). Simeon, who bears the name of one of Jacob’s sons is described as righteous, Like Zechariah and Elizabeth, and devout. Moreover, he is awaiting the consolation of Israel—that is, the fulfillment of prophecies such as those of Isaiah: “Console my people, console them, says your God” (Isa. 40:1;  Isa. 49:13). The Holy Spirit is also upon him, as earlier with Mary (Luke 1:35). The Spirit indeed illuminates his thoughts, revealing the promise that he should not see death before seeing the Messiah, who is Jesus (2:11). The Spirit also guides Simeon’s actions, inspiring him to go to the temple at the right time. He obeys the Spirit’s promptings, Like Mary and Joseph, who are obedient to the law. One might say that the law is fulfilled in them because they walk according to the Spirit.

Meanwhile, Mary and Joseph bring in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, presumably to pay the “redemption price” of “five silver shekels” (Num 18:16) for the firstborn (se exodus 13:13-15). Luke does not explicitly mention it, as his interest is more on the redemption to be wrought by Jesus himself (Luke 2:38).

Samuel took Jesus into his arms and, as Zechariah had done, blessed God. His canticle, the Nunc Dimittis, addresses God directly in the second person as Master, as Abraham earlier did (Gen 15:2).

Now is the time of fulfillment, an emphasis on immediacy already seen in the angelic announcement: Today. . . a savior has been born for you” (Luke 1:11). The time of waiting is over. Simeon is God’s servant, and, like Mary the “handmaid,” he accepts God’s plan for his life, revealed according to God’s word (see 1:38). He may now go—that is, die—since God’s promise to him has been fulfilled. Similarly, Abram wondered if he would go (i.e. die), but then God made a promise to him. The angels had sung of  “peace to those on whom his favor rests,” and such a person is Simeon, who can now die in peace. The Church prays the words of the Nunc Dimittis in Night prayers (compline) every night, so that like Simeon, the faithful may end their days and their lives in God’s peace.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Vincent Clemente

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