A SIGN THAT IS REJECTED

PRESENTATION OF THE LORD - Lk 2:22-40

A very old feast

This is a very old feast, which had its origins in Jerusalem. About the year 400 ad, the pilgrim Egeria wrote in her diary:

"The fortieth day after Epiphany is celebrated here with the greatest solemnity.  On that day there is a procession into the church of the Resurrection and all assemble there for the liturgy. . . . All the priests give sermons, and the bishops, too; and all preach on the gospel text describing how on the fortieth day Joseph and Mary took the Lord to the temple, and how Simeon and Anna the prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, saw Him, and what words they spoke on seeing the Lord, and of the offering which his parents brought.”

This feast is always celebrated on the 2nd of February, which this year falls on a Sunday.

The firstborn belong to the Lord

According to the Law, all male children who were the firstborn belonged to the Lord and had to be consecrated to him. Taken to the Temple of the Lord, they only could be taken back home after a sacrifice to God.

Luke makes it very clear that Jesus was no common child, and that his dignity and his role as Messiah was recognized and proclaimed by Simeon, “an upright and devout man” and by Anna, a prophetess, who spent her life at the service of the Temple.

Simeon proclaims the child Jesus as the Saviour of all nations and the Light that will enlighten the pagans (Lk 2:32).

A sign that is rejected

What is puzzling is that at the same time, Simeon announces to Mary, Jesus’ mother, that this child is “destined to be a sign that is rejected”, causing “the fall and the rising of many in Israel”.

Jesus will be lifted up, and many will run to him for salvation, while others will mock and scorn him and then turn their backs on him.

We must ask ourselves where do we belong? Are we among those who rejected him? Or have we accepted him? If we have, then we are able to say with Simeon: “Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace, just as you promised; because my eyes have seen salvation” (Lk 2:29)

WE ARE CALLED TO BE ONE

III SUNDAY OF THE YEAR: 1 Cor 1:10-13,17

In the Last Supper, Jesus prayed for the community of his disciples, that they may be one (Jn 17:11). That they may be one is Jesus will for his Church, one that we have betrayed since the very beginning. The divisions in the Church of Corinth was one of the main reasons for Paul to write them a letter: "For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you" (1 Cor 1:11). And Paul appeals to them to reconcile and to "be in agreement", so that they may "be united in the same mind and the same purpose" (1 Cor 1:10). In the early Christianity, there was a big diversity due to different cultural and social backgrounds, but they recognised each other as brothers in Christ, who share the same faith, the same hope, the same baptism and the same bread, struggling to be one with Christ in love.

However, throughout the centuries, the Church, which is the body of Christ, has been torn to pieces, with endless quarrels and insights, based on personalities (like in Corinth) and on different practices and mainly on different interpretation and different doctrines. All this comes about, because we forget Christ and bypass him, leaving aside and putting ourselves and our pride in the middle. We listen to the desires of our hearts instead of being docile to the inspirations of the Spirit and obedient to the word of Christ.

Putting Christ in the middle of our lives and our communities, we must learn to respect each other and to cooperate, even though we recognise our differences, and some are so big that we cannot ignore them.

Many times, I hear people say: "We are the same, we worship the same God." But then, why are we divided, moving along parallel or even conflicting lines? However, that observation must lead us to recognise and appreciate what we have in common.

We are just finishing the week of prayer for the unity of the Church. We must pray together with all our brothers in Christ that we may be one. And this praying together will help us to understand and appreciate each other, giving us the courage to work together.

THE LIGHT OF THE NATIONS

II SUNDAY OF THE YEAR: Is 49:3,5-6

The topic of the universality of salvation, meaning that salvation is offered to all, appears many times and in different ways.

Paul stresses that the mystery of God's plan of salvation was hidden in past generations, being revealed only with the coming of Jesus Christ (Ro 16:25-26): the pland "that the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel" (Ep 3:6). One does not have to become a member of the people of Israel; all that is needed is to believe in Jesus Christ and to walk in his footsteps.

However, much before the coming of Jesus Christ, prophets like Isaiah, had already hinted quite clearly at the universality of God's call and his offer of salvation. Speaking about the role of the Messiah, he wrote:

"It is not enough for you to be my servant,

to restore the tribes of Jacob 

and bring back the survivors of Israel;

I will make you the light of the nations

so that my salvation may reach 

to the ends of the earth.” - Is 49:6

John the Baptist was well aware of this universal role of Christ, when he pointed him to his own disciples as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." (Jn 1:29). He came to reconcile with God, not only the people of Israel, but the whole of humanity.

Nowadays, many people like to stress the personal relationship with Jesus, declaring that he is "my personal saviour". Indeed, he is. However, it is interesting that we don't find that expression in the Bible. Instead, Jesus is proclaimed as "the Saviour of the world" (Jn 4:42), making it very clear that my salvation is connected with and dependent on the salvation of all the others. We are not saved individually, but in community. And being guided by an individualistic attitude, I may easily ignore the others, thus putting in danger my own salvation.

BAPTIZED WITH JESUS’ BAPTISM

THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD: Mt 3:13-17

John classified his own baptism as a baptism in “water for repentance”; and people who came to him,  confessed their own sins. He was preparing the way for the one who would baptize “with the Holy Spirit” (Mt 3:6-11).

So John could not believe his own eyes, when he saw Jesus coming among the people to be baptized. And when his turn came, John protested and refused: “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” (Mt 3:14). Like John, we may also look on Jesus’s baptism with perplexity and confusion, questioning ourselves: Did the Sinless need to repent and be purified in a baptism of water?

We must remember that the Son of God took incarnation seriously, going to the bitter end of it, as the song of the letter to the Philippians tells us that he “emptied himself, taking the form of a slave” (Phil 2:7). By entering the waters of river Jordan, among a crowd of sinners, Jesus was being burdened with the oppression of the sins of our humanity. However, going through the  baptism of John, he changed it into a baptism in the  Spirit that transforms and renews, bringing into place a new humanity in his own image, as the Son of God.

Our baptism is Jesus’ baptism, a baptism in the Spirit, who comes upon us and transforms us from within, so that the Father can whisper to us in the Spirit what he said to Jesus: This is my son, my beloved; and my favour rests on him.

Baptized in Jesus, we are assured of God’s favour, because his love is so great that he accepts us as his beloved children.

Our baptism was a great gift of love, of God’s unconditional love. In spite of breaking faith with God so many times, by our evil ways, he does not stop loving us. It is time for us to recognise and accepte that love, by actions of love to all those in whom we must recognize God’s image, the face of Jesus. Pope Francis reminded us that Christian love is concret and active, directed mainly to the suffering ones who live in our midst. No better way to celebrate our own baptism than to recognise that we were constituted into the family of God by that same baptism.

SALVATION IS OFFERED TO ALL

FEAST OF EPIPHANY: Mt. 2:1-12; Ep 3:2-3,5-6

We celebrate this Sunday the great feast of Epiphany, which celebrates Jesus being recognised and accepted as Saviour of the world. The Magi represent the Gentiles, all of us who are not Jews.

Ignoring the open minded message of the Prophets - mainly Isaiah, who had announced God's intention to offer his saving love to all nations, the people of Israel had become narrow minded and chauvinist, with an extreme nationalism that would lead them to doom.

In this Sunday liturgy, we will sing the refrain to the psalm 72: "All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.” Thos foreigners who came from afar worshiped Christ and offered him gifts, while his own people rejected him and looker for means to kill him.

The Magi looked tirelessly for the Messiah, and when they found him, "falling to their knees they did him homage. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh." (Mt 2:11).

The Spirit of God has been always present everywhere, silent but active, illumining people in their hearts and guiding them. In all cultures we can find precious intuitions about God's mystery and our relation with him, which come from the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God always works from within so that one day people may be able to recognise and accept Christ, the true Saviour of the world.

The people of Israel were set apart for God to carry out his plan of salvation, but this salvation is open to all who are ready to accept it.

Paul wrote that this plan of God for the salvation of all was revealed and made clear in Jesus Christ.

"In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel" (Ep 3:5-6)

Like the Magi, we must offer of what we have, and mainly we must offer our hearts, our minds and our lives as a gift of homage and thanksgiving to this child that was born for us.