FrNikola

The Presentation of the Lord

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Today we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation. St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome will be filled this evening with religious and consecrated men and woman of all shapes, sizes, colors, habits, and nationalities, each bearing a candle in procession. They carry the candles to symbolize that Christ, the light of the world, has come into the temple. The feast of the Presentation commemorates Christ coming into the temple for the first time. That is why sometimes this feast is called Candlemas.

Today’s First Reading describes the coming of the Lord to the temple as a searing, blinding light, like a hot fire that purified a precious metal of any impurities. Simeon calls the infant Jesus as he comes to the Temple in the Gospel today, “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel”—the light is for everyone. It is not a physical light, or everyone would have had the same reaction: it is a spiritual and moral light. The widow Anna is described as a prophetess. That meant she was recognized as someone through whom the Spirit of the Lord would speak. Simeon too had the “Holy Spirit” upon him, which led him to the temple to see Jesus when he came in, in answer to a promise the Holy Spirit had made to him that he would not die before seeing the Savior.

In the dark of night, when you shine a spotlight on someone or something, it is set apart, it stands out. As the Gospel today reminds us, Jesus was taken to the Temple to be consecrated to the Lord. This would happen forty days after birth, which is why today is the last little spark of Christmas until next December. First born sons were always considered a special property of God, and enjoyed a special favor and protection as well. In this instance, for spiritually sensitive souls, Jesus was the spotlight, and they were blinded by his glory. The Holy Spirit told them where to direct their gaze, and when Christ came into the Temple it was like having spent all your life in a cave and coming out into the sunlight for the first time.

Anna, Simeon, Mary, and Joseph were the forerunners of everyone coming out of that cave. St. John described Jesus at the start of his Gospel as the true light that enlightens every man coming into the world. In the Vatican II document Gaudium et Spes, we see what kind of light this is: “The truth is that only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light. For Adam, the first man, was a figure of Him Who was to come, namely Christ the Lord. Christ, the final Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear” (GS 22). St. John Paul II quoted this number of Gaudium et Spes innumerable times in his pontificate. Christ reveals man to man himself. That’s why some see him as a light by which they change their lives, and others, like St. John the Evangelist tells us in another passage, prefer the darkness because their deeds are evil: they don’t want to come out of the cave of their lives.

On this feast day we also celebrate the World Day for Consecrated Life. Each one of us received a consecration on the day of our baptism. After our baptism we received a candle with the words, “receive the light of Christ.” As consecrated every baptized Christian is set apart for a divine purpose. Not just the religious or consecrated men and women. We all bear the light of Christ, so that others can see Christ through us. We must bring the light of Christ to others. The Holy Spirit guides each of us in our circumstances and history to see what path and form our consecration should take: consecrated life, married life, etc. He shows us the divine purpose for which we are set apart.

When we follow those promptings of the Holy Spirit, take the path he invites us to walk, we draw closer to the light of Christ. Sometimes we think Revelation is just something that happens to those in the Bible, but revelation happens every day in our hearts, and sometimes those revelations are big. They may only seem big to us, but they make us see everything in a new light. The expression “the difference between night and day” comes to fruition in a circumstance, a moment of prayer, a chance encounter. The Holy Spirit is active through everyone God has set apart, whether at baptism, in the lay life, or in the consecrated life, and, like Anna and Simeon, when we are led to the light of Christ, we cannot keep silent. We have to share it with others.

Let’s thank Our Lord for being the light of our lives. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help us keep looking in Christ’s direction and illuminating our lives, and let’s resolve to be that light of Christ for others as well.

Readings: Malachi 3:1–4; Psalm 24:7–10; Hebrews 2:14–18; Luke 2:22–40. See also Christmas Octave, 5th Day and 6th day, and Our Lady of Sorrows.

4th Week in Ordinary Time, Monday

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The Gerasenes in today’s Gospel had tried to resolve the issue of the possessed man in the tombs  for a long time. They couldn’t subdue him, they couldn’t chain him up, they couldn’t silence him or even get near him. It’s not clear whether they could hear him crying out from their homes, but he was frequently in their thoughts as something beyond their comprehension and beyond their control. If swine herders lived nearby they were probably not Jewish, and had no idea of God, just the confused religion of many mysterious and fickle powers at play.

Then Our Lord comes into their life. The crazy man in the tombs is dressed and in his right mind, and evil spirits have driven a whole herd of swine into the water. After hearing testimony to the events they responded out of superstition, not faith. If Our Lord could do all this, he was to be feared even more. They didn’t want the unexplainable explained, they just wanted him gone and the unexplainable forgotten. The grace of God came and passed them by, but the Decapolis did hear, from the lips of the formerly possessed man himself, what the Lord had done for him.

We pride ourselves on being educated and knowing how the world works. Yet we can’t ignore that some times things happen that just don’t fit into our heads. Who do we turn to in those moments? Make them moments of faith and not moments of superstition. Our Lord reveals himself in those moments if we don’t shut him out.

Readings: 2 Samuel 15:13–14, 30, 16:5–13; Psalm 3:2–7; Mark 5:1–20. See also 13th Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday.

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

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In the First Reading today Jeremiah receives a mission to be a bearer of a message to his own people that they don’t want to hear. The Lord encourages him not to be discouraged and to be firm. The Kingdom of Judah, due to its infidelities, is going to be conquered by the Babylonians, and Jeremiah is told to deliver that message and to have Judah surrender so that their punishment is more lenient due to their repentance. Due to his message he is imprisoned, branded a traitor, and threatened with death multiple times. In the end Babylon conquers Judah the hard way and Judah suffers all the more for it.

In today’s Second Reading Paul describes love as something that can take a lot of punishment. Jeremiah loved the Lord and he loved Judah: the Lord was administering tough love to an obstinate people, and Jeremiah needed to be the messenger of that tough love, despite the hatred he received from his people as a result. Our Lord in today’s Gospel probably had Jeremiah’s mission in mind when he said a prophet was without honor in his own country. His childhood friends and loved ones wanted a stage show. Like Judah, they expected a miracle from the Lord that they didn’t deserve. When Jesus’ love gets tough, they show how poor their love is in comparison, but Jesus’ doesn’t diminish a bit.

Today’s readings speak to those on both sides of this conversation: those trying to communicate a hard truth to those they love, and those who spurn that hard truth. Let’s pray to be strong in truth and love when we’re called to share it with those we love, and let’s also accept with humility and love those messengers who help us try to see the truth more clearly as well.

Readings: Jeremiah 1:4–5, 17–19; Psalm 71:1–6, 15, 17; 1 Corinthians 12:31–13:13; Luke 4:21–30. See also 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 17th Week in Ordinary Time, Friday, 22nd Week in Ordinary Time, Monday, and Thursday after Epiphany.

3rd Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday

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In today’s First Reading the Lord sends the prophet Nathan to David to see how sound David’s moral reasoning is, only to “hang him” with it. David sizes up perfectly the scenario of the rich man who takes the poor man’s only lamb instead of using one of his own to entertain a guest. In David’s time polygamy was practiced, and he had multiple wives, but Uriah the Hittite only had one. In committing adultery with Uriah’s wife David took what did not belong to him, and he didn’t give a thought to Uriah, except to murder him in order to cover up his sin, as we saw yesterday. David was fully aware of what he was doing, which made his sin even more serious.

Unlike Saul, who made an effort to justify his sin, David knew all his schemes to cover up what he had done were now revealed to be futile, and acknowledged his sin before the Lord. He was repentant for what he had done, but, as the First Reading also reminds us today, the effects of sin remain even when sins are forgiven. In Catholic teaching we call this the temporal effects of sin: Uriah is not coming back from the dead, nor the men that died alongside him in the battle, and now David’s child by Uriah’s wife is struck mortally ill as well.

Sin leaves its mark, even when we’re repentant for it. Even hardened sinners will admit to that. Let’s continue to detest sin in our lives, not just because of what it does to us, but because of what it does to others as well.

Readings: 2 Samuel 12:1–7a, 10–17; Psalm 51:12–17; Mark 4:35–41. See also 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, 13th Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday, and Wednesday after Epiphany.

3rd Week in Ordinary Time, Friday

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Today’s First Reading reminds us that if, as we saw yesterday, we’re expected to shine before Our Lord, sin makes us want to keep things in the dark, but our conscience keeps a blazing spotlight on the wrong we have done. David should have been out on the military campaign with his troops, but instead he stays back and fools around with another man’s wife. Maybe he thought it would just stay as a one time fling, but she becomes pregnant. He tries to cover it up by making her husband Uriah go visit home when Israel is at arms, but Uriah doesn’t go. So instead of coming clean and bringing things to the light, he has Uriah killed in combat as another way to cover up what he has done.

Uriah, without saying a word or knowing anything about what happened, filled David with shame. Uriah had been faithful to his wife and his king. He had gone out in campaign when Israel had needed it, and he did not think of himself when visiting home. He wanted to show David his loyalty and fidelity by not going home to be with his wife when David and Israel needed him ready for battle. He probably did it also out of solidarity with all his brother soldiers who didn’t have an opportunity to be with their loved ones. His noble example screamed at David showing him everything he was supposed to be as king. Uriah’s reward was being murdered.

We’ve all had moments when our conscience has tried to be our guide, but we have ignored it. We’ve all had moments when someone’s good example has reminded us of how bad we’ve been. When we sin we betray our conscience, and it reminds us as we keep sinning that we’re only digging a deeper hole for ourselves until we come clean. Ask Our Lord for the grace to come clean and seek his mercy in the sacrament of Confession and your shame turn into peace of soul.

Readings: 2 Samuel 11:1–4a, 5–10a, 13–17; Psalm 51:3–7, 10–11; Mark 4:26–34. See also 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B and 30th Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday.