Today is the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, where we recall the wonderful event when Jesus, as an infant, is brought to the Temple for purification by our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Joseph, his protective father. This is an astonishing event in the life of the Church and in salvation history because, as we know through the prophecies, the Messiah would come to renew his Temple, to purify his Temple (cf. Ez 43:1–7). And yet we have something of the contrary happening here.
Our Lord is brought for purification just like any other child. But our Lord’s humility allows for this, and our Blessed Mother’s and Saint Joseph’s obedience transcend the unnecessary prerequisite for our Lord’s purification, because he did not need purification, just like he did not need baptism. And yet he went to John the Baptist, who said to him, “It is I who need baptism from you, and yet you come to me” (Mt 3:14). Our Lord’s obedience is perfect, even as an infant. This is how much obedience pleases our Heavenly Father.
My brothers and sisters, if we can sum up the readings of today and the feast of today, I would say we could describe it in this way: God enters his Temple not to be admired, but to be received, and in receiving him we ourselves are revealed and purified.
Notice the different dynamics happening between our Blessed Mother, Saint Joseph, and Jesus on the one hand, and everybody else that encounters them in the Temple on the other. We have Saint Simeon and Saint Anna the prophetess, and the prophet Simeon makes astounding prophecies. And we are told that they held him, the infant Jesus, in their arms, embraced him, treasured him. They knew that they were looking at their long-awaited salvation. They were two individuals, Simeon and Anna, who were waiting, awaiting their redemption, awaiting their salvation. How is it that others did not catch on? How is it that others just went on with their daily routine? Most likely because their hearts were not awaiting; their hearts were distracted by many other things. And so in receiving him, hearts will be revealed and will be purified. Simeon, in fact, says to our Blessed Mother, “This child is destined for the rise and fall of many, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Lk 2:34–35). So the child here does not judge by accusation. He is still not at the human phase of talking; he is not yet able to communicate verbally, but he judges by his mere presence. The paradox at the heart of this feast, put simply, is that the Temple receives God, and God in turn receives humanity. But this encounter is never neutral, because that same child is light for revelation, fire for purification, peace for the faithful, and contradiction for the resistant (cf. Mal 3:1–3).
At the Presentation, God enters his Temple even as a child. We know from the prophecies of Ezekiel that at one point in Ezekiel’s vision, he sees God in the Temple climbing onto a chariot driven by angels, magnificent angels, and he leaves (cf. Ez 10:18–19; 11:22–23). He departs the Temple. He exits the Holy of Holies. Why? Because of the corruption of the people (cf. Ez 8:6). They had created a place that was unfitting to contain the Lord God of hosts in his holiness. Holiness, especially the holiness of God, and sin have no compatibility. They cannot coexist (cf. Ez 44:4–9). That is why nothing with the least taint of sin can enter into eternal Paradise with God, into the beatific vision, and that is why he needs to purify us. But in that same vision, Ezekiel is heartened by God when he is encouraged with the prophecy that the same way God left from the eastern gate of the Temple will be the same way he returns from the east through the eastern gate, to purify, to cleanse, to renew, to restore to its former glory the most holy Temple of God (cf. Ez 43:1–5). We know that during Holy Week this was fulfilled in a very special way when Jesus, beginning on Palm Sunday, rides into Jerusalem triumphantly on a donkey, lowly and humble, as prophesied by the prophet Zechariah (Zec 9:9). But where does he come from? He comes from the east, from Bethany, a few kilometres away. And every day he does this: he comes into Jerusalem, he goes back to Bethany, he comes back into Jerusalem from the east, day after day. But on the day after Palm Sunday, on Holy Monday of Holy Week, he goes straight to the Temple and he purifies it. He cleanses it (cf. Mt 21:12–13). Here is the Lord God of hosts returning the Temple to its former glory. But in this feast of the Presentation, we already catch a hint of the Lord who arrives at the Temple and who will begin to cleanse it, to sanctify it.
My brothers and sisters, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, may he cleanse our hearts. May he purify our minds, and may he prepare our bodies to be the Temple of the Holy Spirit, a dwelling place fitting for the King of the universe (cf. 1 Cor 6:19). May Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Go in peace to love, serve, and thank the Lord. Amen.
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