My Dear People, 

Today we read about the birth of Isaac!  Even though his Mother, Sarah, was beyond the age of childbearing, she gave birth to Isaac. Abraham and Sarah are compared to St. Joseph and the Blessed Mother because in both cases we have a miraculous conception and birth in a situation where common sense and biology would dictate that none should be possible. The links between Jesus and Isaac are many. Both are called the “only son” of their respective fathers, and both would one day climb a mountain carrying the wood of their execution on their backs, and then be laid on the wood at the top of the mountain in order to be sacrificed to God. 

This first reading reminds us that the salvation of the world “passes by way of the family,” to use the phrase of which St. John Paul II was fond. The salvation of the world frequently did, and still does, come down to quiet decisions and acts of faith made by parents in out-of-the-way times and places. Such decisions and acts are never reported in the papers or on the internet, but such often lead to conception and birth of human beings who ultimately will change the world. Truly the drama of human history mostly plays out in the quiet intensity of daily life, especially within the family. Knowing this we should seek motivation to recommit ourselves to pursue holiness in the little, mundane details of daily living. So often it is from those small acts of faith in the pursuit of holiness that the great acts of salvation are conceived and born. 

In the gospel, we have the presentation of Jesus in the temple. God made a law that all the first males born should be dedicated to God. Jesus was the firstborn, so he was brought to the temple by Mary and Joseph to be dedicated to God. For the reason this law was enacted, we must go back to Egypt and recall the tenth plague whereby all the firstborn males were struck dead on the night of the Passover. But, the firstborn of the Hebrew families lived, because they had slaughtered the lamb and placed its blood on the door post and lintel, as instructed by Moses. All who did this, the angel passed over their houses and the firstborn son was spared .

This plague, along with other plagues, were enacted for a purpose. Each plague involved a worship of a pagan god which the Egyptians practiced. The last plague—sacrificing their firstborn son—was dedicated to a pagan god. Because the Hebrews had been in Egypt for a long time, they were subject to be influenced by this custom. God, however, did not want the Hebrews to dedicate their firstborn son to a pagan god. This violated the first commandment: “Thou shall not have any other god before me.” To counteract this mentality God instituted, through Moses, that their firstborn son must be dedicated to God. Thus, it became a law for the Hebrews. This is the dictate of the law that Mary and Joseph were following. 

Mary and Joseph, by humbling themselves in obedience and placing a priority on worship, put themselves in a position to receive beautiful blessings and insight from Simeon and Anna, who were waiting for them. 

When Jesus was dedicated to God in the temple, it was the time for God to reveal through two holy people, Mary and Joseph, the true mission of their child Jesus. With Simeon, the Holy Spirit is mentioned, which was very special. It was the Holy Spirit who inspired Simeon to go to the temple at this time. He would see the consolation of Israel. This reflects the Essene movement who may have founded the Qumran community in response to Isaiah 40:3. Also, the constant mention of the Holy Spirit with respect to Simeon recalls the Essenes, because they had a rich spirituality of the Spirit, in relation to other Jewish sects. 

The words of Simeon about the Christ Child (“My eyes have seen your salvation. . . “) are also very Isaianic (see Isaiah 42:6, 49:6. The “rise and fall of many in Israel” may be a reference to Isaiah 40:4-5) “Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low,” can be understood as a mystic prophecy of the exaltation of the poor and the humbling of the rich.  

 There is little precedent for his shocking statement to the Blessed Mother: “You, yourself, a sword will pierce.”  This is one of the biblical passages that undergird the theology of Mary’s co-redemption. Not that she is equal with her divine Son in the work of redemption, but she participated in that work in an entirely singular and unique way, co-suffering as she watched her only Son rejected, humiliated, tortured, and killed. 

[Portions of this article were taken from Reflection of Sunday mass reading for year B by John Bergsma]

May God Bless you throughout  the New Year.

In Christ,

Fr. Vincent Clemente