Two weeks ago, a new president was installed in office in the United States, and central to that event was the oath of office by the new president. By that oath of office the nation and the government of the United States accepted him as its president. A week later, the people of Ireland witnessed the oath of office of its new government and their being granted the seals of office.
Today’s feast day, the Presentation of Jesus in the temple, is seen as a moment of great importance for the life of Jesus and for the people he came to save. That was his life’s work. His parents knew he was a special messenger from God, and his presentation in the temple stamped him as a member of God’s chosen people. His parents did not know what lay ahead for him, but they sensed that he would be a servant of God and of God’s people all of his life.
We have learned from the sacred scriptures that there were two wise and holy people in the temple at the time of his presentation, Simeon and Anna. Both spent long hours in the temple praying for the coming of the Messiah. On this particular day both were inspired to be in the temple and both were given assurance by God that the long-awaited Messiah had come at last.
Simeon and Anna represented the people of the Jewish faith and of the sacred law (Old Covenant) given by God to Moses. By their presence in the temple, in a symbolic way, they represented the hopes of the Jewish people, and they welcomed the author of the New covenant. He would set forth a new understanding of God and of his relationship to his people.
In the life of the Church and in each of our lives there are sacred moments when we are given opportunities of entering a new relationship with God. These include sacraments (baptism, marriage etc.) times of new insight and new relationships in our lives, new jobs, new training for promotion, special family events.
These are simply times when we come to know God for the first time and times when we deepen our relationship with God. They are somewhat similar to the Presentation of Jesus in the temple, and because of these our lives are changed forever.
APPLICATIONS A. Name one or more of the sacraments that were ‘God’ experiences for you? B. List one or more experiences in your life (love of family, times of hope, times of success and reward, etc.) when you sensed your life was touched by God. C. In what ways has your parish offered you times of awareness of God in your life? D. Is there one great experience of God in your life?
[Submitted by Father David O’Connor, email: doconnor.natchez@gmail.com}
Father David O'Connor 10 Morgantown Road Natchez, MS 39120-2788