John Littleton
Journeying through the year of Matthew
Journeying through the year of Matthew
Reflection
Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which occurs forty days after our celebration of the birth of Jesus at Christmas. The feast is also known as Candlemas Day because the blessing and procession of candles is included in the Mass. Jesus Christ is the light of the nations, ‘the light to enlighten the pagans’ (Lk 2:32). That is why we have the blessing and procession of candles on this day.
The Presentation of the Lord brings to an end the celebration of the Nativity — although Christmas officially ends with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. In obedience to the Law, as was customary with first-born male children, Jesus was presented in the Temple in Jerusalem by his mother, Mary, and his foster father, Joseph.
Through the prophecies of Simeon and Anna, Jesus was revealed and acknowledged as the Messiah. A similar acknowledgement had occurred when the wise men knelt in adoration during their visit to the newborn infant Jesus (see Mt 2).
But Simeon’s prophecy to Mary about Jesus was distressing: ‘You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected’ (Lk 2:34). The prophecy leads our thoughts away from the Incarnation, with an emphasis on God becoming human in Jesus Christ, towards the Paschal Mystery, which emphasises the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ.
Over the preceding centuries, many prophets had longed to see the Messiah. But they had died without realising their greatest desire. Simeon and Anna were truly blessed to meet the Saviour of the world, even if the meeting was tinged with sadness because of their predictions about the future events in his life. We too are blessed because we are privileged to know that we have been saved from the consequences of our sins.
Simeon and Anna used their time well because they spent most of it in the Temple praising God. There is an important lesson here for us. It is relatively easy to spend time in God’s presence — simply because God is always with us. We are not required to be in the Temple or in a church or in another designated sacred space. We can be in God’s presence wherever and whenever we choose and, enlivened and encouraged by God’s presence, we can be witnesses to Jesus Christ who is the light of the world.
The tradition of lighting candles in our homes as a sign that Christ is the light of the world is one practical custom that we could easily initiate to focus our attention on him being at the centre of this wonderful feast and at the centre of our lives.
Finally, on today’s feast, all families can learn the value of giving thanks to God for the gift of children and can seek his blessing on their lives and work. Enlightened by the brightness of Christ, let us re-dedicate ourselves to God, confident that he never abandons us.
For meditation
My eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared for all the nations to see, a light to enlighten the pagans and the glory of your people Israel. (Lk 2:30-32)
****
From The Connections:
The Book of Exodus required a first-born son to be formally “presented” to God because the first-born sons “belong” to the Lord who saved them when the Egyptian first-born perished at the Passover (Exodus 13: 15).
Under Mosaic Law (Leviticus 12: 2-8), a woman was ritually “unclean” for forty days after childbirth, unable to touch anything sacred or enter the temple area. At the end of this period, she was to present herself to the priests and offer a sacrifice of thanks – for a poor couple like Mary and Joseph, the offering was two pigeons or doves.
Luke’s Gospel (and today’s solemnity) emphasizes Jesus’ first appearance in the Temple rather than Mary’s purification. In Luke’s account, Jesus was welcomed into the Temple by two venerable elderly people, Simeon and the widow Anna. For Luke, the two are icons of the faithful Jew—the “remnant” (Zephaniah 3:12) who awaits the coming of the Messiah and the restoration of Israel’s covenant of justice and compassion with God. Simeon recognizes Jesus as the Anointed of the Lord and his canticle (the Nunc Dimitis, prayed at the close of the day at Compline in the Liturgy of the Hours) prophesies that this Child will be a “light for revelation to the Gentiles.” In blessing the parents, he warns that this child will be a sign opposed and that Mary will be pierced with a sword. It is the first indication of the cross Christ will take up to realize the salvation of humankind. Anna, as an elderly widow, is considered among the most vulnerable and poor of society. Her encounter with the child typifies the theme woven throughout Luke's Gospel: the exaltation of society's poorest and most humble by God.
Inspired by the words of the Simeon’s canticle, by the 11th century, the custom developed in the West of blessing candles on the Feast of the Presentation (which became popularly known as Candlemas). The candles were then lit, and a procession took place through the darkened church while the Canticle of Simeon was sung.
HOMILY POINTS:
To raise a child is an experience of both incredible joy and devastating heartbreak. Every parent’s life is “pieced” with turmoil, disappointment, illness, desperation, and fear. Certainly every mom and dad knows what Mary and Joseph went through. Within our families, our sons and daughters embrace and are embraced by the love we have known and seek to know better, to be grasped by the hand of God who has grasped us by the hand.
The prophet Simeon proclaims that this Child will be a “light” for Israel — but that light will endure great suffering and pain before finally shattering the darkness. Luke’s Gospel of the Child Jesus reminds us that the crib is overshadowed by the cross, that this holy birth is the beginning of humankind’s rebirth in the Resurrection.
In baptism, we incorporate our children into the life of the Risen Christ; within our home, we try to guide them in learning the Gospel values of compassion, love, forgiveness, justice and peace that we have embraced. Our celebration of Jesus’ Presentation in the Temple calls us to recommit ourselves to giving our sons and daughters the best that we have -- our faith in the God who loves us -- so that they may grow “and become strong, be filled with wisdom; and the favor of God upon them.”
Anna and Simeon live among us today in our own families and communities and "temples." They inspire gratitude and teach compassion by the lessons of their long lives. In the wisdom that comes with age, in the love and care they extend to us in their grace and joy, in their faith that has been made strong and unshakable through a lifetime of struggle, the Anna’s and Simeon’s of our time and place are rays of God’s light shining through all of our lives, illuminating the way to God's eternal dwelling place.
A childhood memory from an accomplished writer and preacher:
“I would learn to read in the first grade, I was told as a young child, and I couldn’t wait to go. As it was, I was dependent on the schedules of the adults around me for stories, having to wait until there was somebody who could read to me. I feasted on pictures in fairy-tale books, of course, and made up stories with my dolls. And we had a television, which had more stories . . . But my parents and my brothers read happily in silence for hours. Sometimes you would have to call the boys’ names twice, or even three times, before you could get them to look up from their books. Reading was that absorbing. I longed to join the club.
“Somehow I had the impression that I would learn to read that first day, that learning to read was just a secret that would be imparted to me at the proper time . . . I didn’t grasp that learning to read was a process. Imagine my frustration, then, when we began to go over the alphabet and the sounds each letter signified. That was all very well. ‘But when are we going to learn to read?’ I asked the teacher as the afternoon wore on. She told me that this was learning to read, that this is how you started. Oh. This was the biggest disappointment my short life had yet encountered . . .
“Soon, the thrill of the chase took over. It was fun to sound out the words on the page, to begin to recognize a whole word, to read and write longer and longer sentences. But it was work, too. To grow in wisdom doesn’t just happen to us, while we sit there on our hands folded in our laps and do nothing. We acquire wisdom. We pursue wisdom. We follow in her ways.”
Everything that is good and of value in our lives — from learning to read to being a loving spouse and sibling — demands work and struggle. Today’s Gospel is a sober reminder of that reality: the prophet Simeon proclaims that this child will be a “light” for Israel — but that light will endure great suffering and pain before finally shattering the darkness. Luke’s Gospel of the Child Jesus reminds us that the crib is overshadowed by the cross, that this holy birth is the beginning of humankind’s rebirth in the Resurrection. And it will be a long road of joys and wonders, of conflict and hurt.
****
From Fr. Tony Kadavil
Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the rise and fall of many in Israel, and a sign to be contradicted —and you yourself a sword will pierce— so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
“There was also a prophetess, Anna . . . And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about this child to all who were waiting the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:34-35
“There was also a prophetess, Anna . . . And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about this child to all who were waiting the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:34-35
THE WORD:
The Solemnity of the Presentation of the Lord is observed on February 2, forty days after Christmas. This ancient feast celebrates the faithful, devout parents of Jesus fulfilling two requirements of the Law: The Book of Exodus required a first-born son to be formally “presented” to God because the first-born sons “belong” to the Lord who saved them when the Egyptian first-born perished at the Passover (Exodus 13: 15).
Under Mosaic Law (Leviticus 12: 2-8), a woman was ritually “unclean” for forty days after childbirth, unable to touch anything sacred or enter the temple area. At the end of this period, she was to present herself to the priests and offer a sacrifice of thanks – for a poor couple like Mary and Joseph, the offering was two pigeons or doves.
Luke’s Gospel (and today’s solemnity) emphasizes Jesus’ first appearance in the Temple rather than Mary’s purification. In Luke’s account, Jesus was welcomed into the Temple by two venerable elderly people, Simeon and the widow Anna. For Luke, the two are icons of the faithful Jew—the “remnant” (Zephaniah 3:12) who awaits the coming of the Messiah and the restoration of Israel’s covenant of justice and compassion with God. Simeon recognizes Jesus as the Anointed of the Lord and his canticle (the Nunc Dimitis, prayed at the close of the day at Compline in the Liturgy of the Hours) prophesies that this Child will be a “light for revelation to the Gentiles.” In blessing the parents, he warns that this child will be a sign opposed and that Mary will be pierced with a sword. It is the first indication of the cross Christ will take up to realize the salvation of humankind. Anna, as an elderly widow, is considered among the most vulnerable and poor of society. Her encounter with the child typifies the theme woven throughout Luke's Gospel: the exaltation of society's poorest and most humble by God.
Inspired by the words of the Simeon’s canticle, by the 11th century, the custom developed in the West of blessing candles on the Feast of the Presentation (which became popularly known as Candlemas). The candles were then lit, and a procession took place through the darkened church while the Canticle of Simeon was sung.
HOMILY POINTS:
To raise a child is an experience of both incredible joy and devastating heartbreak. Every parent’s life is “pieced” with turmoil, disappointment, illness, desperation, and fear. Certainly every mom and dad knows what Mary and Joseph went through. Within our families, our sons and daughters embrace and are embraced by the love we have known and seek to know better, to be grasped by the hand of God who has grasped us by the hand.
The prophet Simeon proclaims that this Child will be a “light” for Israel — but that light will endure great suffering and pain before finally shattering the darkness. Luke’s Gospel of the Child Jesus reminds us that the crib is overshadowed by the cross, that this holy birth is the beginning of humankind’s rebirth in the Resurrection.
In baptism, we incorporate our children into the life of the Risen Christ; within our home, we try to guide them in learning the Gospel values of compassion, love, forgiveness, justice and peace that we have embraced. Our celebration of Jesus’ Presentation in the Temple calls us to recommit ourselves to giving our sons and daughters the best that we have -- our faith in the God who loves us -- so that they may grow “and become strong, be filled with wisdom; and the favor of God upon them.”
Anna and Simeon live among us today in our own families and communities and "temples." They inspire gratitude and teach compassion by the lessons of their long lives. In the wisdom that comes with age, in the love and care they extend to us in their grace and joy, in their faith that has been made strong and unshakable through a lifetime of struggle, the Anna’s and Simeon’s of our time and place are rays of God’s light shining through all of our lives, illuminating the way to God's eternal dwelling place.
Chasing the light
“I would learn to read in the first grade, I was told as a young child, and I couldn’t wait to go. As it was, I was dependent on the schedules of the adults around me for stories, having to wait until there was somebody who could read to me. I feasted on pictures in fairy-tale books, of course, and made up stories with my dolls. And we had a television, which had more stories . . . But my parents and my brothers read happily in silence for hours. Sometimes you would have to call the boys’ names twice, or even three times, before you could get them to look up from their books. Reading was that absorbing. I longed to join the club.
“Somehow I had the impression that I would learn to read that first day, that learning to read was just a secret that would be imparted to me at the proper time . . . I didn’t grasp that learning to read was a process. Imagine my frustration, then, when we began to go over the alphabet and the sounds each letter signified. That was all very well. ‘But when are we going to learn to read?’ I asked the teacher as the afternoon wore on. She told me that this was learning to read, that this is how you started. Oh. This was the biggest disappointment my short life had yet encountered . . .
“Soon, the thrill of the chase took over. It was fun to sound out the words on the page, to begin to recognize a whole word, to read and write longer and longer sentences. But it was work, too. To grow in wisdom doesn’t just happen to us, while we sit there on our hands folded in our laps and do nothing. We acquire wisdom. We pursue wisdom. We follow in her ways.”
[From Let Every Heart Prepare: Meditations for Advent and Christmas by Barbara Cawthorne Crafton.]
****
From Fr. Tony Kadavil
1: “Would you hold my baby for me, please?” Years
ago, a young man was riding a bus from Chicago to Miami. He had a stop-over in
Atlanta. While he was sitting at the lunch counter, a woman came out of the
ladies’ restroom carrying a tiny baby. She walked up to this man and asked,
“Would you hold my baby for me? I left my purse in the restroom.” He did. But
as the woman neared the front door of the bus station, she darted out into the
crowded street and was immediately lost in the crowd. This guy couldn’t believe
his eyes. He rushed to the door to call the woman but couldn’t see her
anywhere. Now what should he do? Put the baby down and run? When calmness
finally settled in, he went to the Traveler’s Aid booth and together with the
local police, they soon found the real mother. You see, the woman who’d left
him holding the baby wasn’t the baby’s real mother. She’d taken the child.
Maybe it was to satisfy some motherly urge to hold a child or something else.
No one really knows. But we do know that this man breathed a sigh of relief
when the real mother was found. After all, what was he going to do with a baby?
In a way, each of us, is in the same sort of situation as this young man. Every
Christmas God Himself walks up to us and asks, “Would you hold My Baby for Me,
please?” and then thrusts the Christ Child into our arms. And we’re left with
the question, “What are we going to do with this Baby?” But an even deeper
question is just, “Who is this Baby?” If we look at Scripture, we find all
kinds of titles and names for this Baby we hold in our arms: Emmanuel,
“God-with-us;” Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace, Christ the King, Jesus. In today’s Gospel describing the presentation
ceremony, Simeon asks Mary the question: “Can I hold your Baby for a few
minutes, please?” (Rev. King Duncan).
2: “Four Chaplains Sunday.” Julia Duin
in the Washington Times Sunday, February 1, 2009 told this
story. Just after midnight on Feb. 3, 1943, an act of extraordinary
unselfishness by a group of men became a legend of martyrdom and sacrifice.
When the Army ship Dorchester was torpedoed by the Germans just south of
Greenland that night, its passengers and crew had 25 minutes to get off the
boat. As 902 people went for the life jackets, it quickly was discovered there
weren’t near enough. Of the 13 lifeboats, only two functioned. In the ship’s
final minutes, Methodist senior chaplain George Lansing Fox, Rabbi Alexander
Goode, Dutch Reformed minister Clark V. Poling and John P. Washington, a Roman
Catholic priest, were helping passengers leave the vessel. Then four men
appeared all of them without life jackets. The chaplains quickly gave up their
own vests and went down with the ship, perishing in the freezing water.
Survivors saw them, locked arm in arm, praying and singing the Navy hymn,
“Eternal Father, Strong to Save” just before the ship dove beneath the waves.
It was a night as dramatic as the sinking of the Titanic but without a
blockbuster movie to record the drama. “The Four Immortal Chaplains,” as they
are now known, have been honored many times, including on a stamp issued in
their honor by the U.S. Postal Service. The first Sunday in February is known
as “Four Chaplains Sunday.” They presented and offered themselves completely
for the well being of others. (WQuoted by Rev. Fr. Njoku Canice
Chukwuemeka, C.S.Sp)
3: The sword piercing Mary’s heart: There
is a beautiful Holman Hunt picture in the Guggenheim Museum in New York City
called “The Shadow of Death.” It is the only known work of classical art that
shows Jesus laboring as an adult in the carpenter’s shop. Joseph is absent so
we presume he has died. In this painting, a day of work has ended, and Jesus
has just risen from his bench and stretches in relaxation. The shadow of his
body and upraised arms falls on a rack of tools on the wall, and we see
prefigured the “very dying form of one who suffered there for me.” But
the most interesting thing about the painting is that in the background we see
Mary kneeling before an open chest in which we see the gifts of the three wise
men “the gold, frankincense and myrrh.” No doubt as the years went by,
Mary watched her son grow to manhood. Now in Joseph’s absence, Jesus was supporting
the family as a carpenter. Mary might have wondered if God had mocked her with
a cruel joke that her Son was the One who would redeem his people. So again,
and again she would go to the chest and gently touch the gifts, as if to
convince herself that the promises were real. This might have been the only
concrete contact she had with the golden hopes of thirty years ago. And on this
day, as she caresses the golden crown and the casket of frankincense and the
vase of myrrh, suddenly she sees on the back wall the shadow of the cross. From
that day forth the shadow is ever before her. (Rev. Eric Ritz). That was
the sword that would pierce Mary’s soul. Simeon knew what lay ahead.
4: “A new refrigerator with a 10-year warranty.” An
elderly woman in frail health was speaking with her doctor and expressing her
hope that she would have the strength to live just a few more months so that
she could celebrate the birth of her first grandchild. Sure enough, the day
came, and the woman was present and well enough to hold the little child in her
arms. When the woman went back to her doctor, he suggested that it would be
important to set a new goal so that she had something to look forward to,
something to “keep her going”. “Well”, the woman pondered, “my son did just buy
me a new refrigerator with a 10-year warranty.” Today in Luke’s Gospel we are
introduced to a couple of characters who have been waiting for a long time for
a promise to be fulfilled. When they see the Child, Anna and Simeon announce to
everyone they see that He is the fulfillment of God’s promise to humanity.
5. Sacrificial presentation: A pig and a chicken were
walking down the street together. Every restaurant they passed had signs in the
window advertising, “Ham and Eggs.” “See,” said the chicken, “We’re famous.”
The pig grunted. “For you,” he said, “a plate of ham and eggs is just a cackle, it’s all in a day’s work for you, but for me it’s the supreme sacrifice of my life.”
The pig grunted. “For you,” he said, “a plate of ham and eggs is just a cackle, it’s all in a day’s work for you, but for me it’s the supreme sacrifice of my life.”
6. Final presentation: In ancient Rome in the days of
Nero some poor Christian was being chased around the coliseum by a ferocious
lion. The faster he ran, the faster the lion ran. Eventually, it was obvious
that the end was near, so the poor fellow fell to his knees and prayed aloud,
“Dear Lord, make this lion a Christian!” With that, the lion fell to his knees
and began to pray, “Bless us, O Lord, and this Thy gift which I am about to
receive…” The end was near!
Lord Jesus, as an infant You were brought to the temple
by Your parents out of religious duty. Help all parents to take their duties to
God seriously, to inculcate their faith in the next generation by their words
and by their actions, so that the faith will be handed on where the faith is
first learned—in the family and in the home.
12 Additional anecdotes
1) The Story of the Presentation of the Lord: At
the end of the fourth century, a woman named Etheria made a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem. Her journal, discovered in 1887, gives an unprecedented glimpse of
liturgical life there. Among the celebrations she describes is the Epiphany,
the observance of Christ’s birth, and the gala procession in honor of his
Presentation in the Temple 40 days later. Under the Mosaic Law, a woman was
ritually “unclean” for 40 days after childbirth, when she was to present
herself to the priests and offer sacrifice—her “purification.” Contact with
anyone who had brushed against mystery—birth or death—excluded a person from
Jewish worship. This feast emphasizes Jesus’ first appearance in the Temple
more than Mary’s purification. The observance spread throughout the Western
Church in the fifth and sixth centuries. Because the Church in the West
celebrated Jesus’ birth on December 25, the Presentation was moved to February
2, 40 days after Christmas. At the beginning of the eighth century, Pope
Sergius inaugurated a candlelight procession; at the end of the same century
the blessing and distribution of candles which continues to this day became
part of the celebration, giving the feast its popular name: Candlemas. (https://www.franciscanmedia.org/presentation-of-the-lord/)
.
2) “The shadow of
the cross.” There are two other well-known pictures, each with the
same title, “The Shadow of the Cross.” In the first and most well- known
painting, the cross-like shadow of the grown-up Jesus is pictured. In a second
painting, Holman Hunt depicts the interior of a carpenter’s shop, with Joseph
and the Boy Jesus at work. The Boy Jesus pauses in his work, and as he
stretches his arms the shadow of the cross is formed on the wall. The third
picture is a popular engraving which depicts the Infant Jesus running with
outstretched arms to his mother, the shadow of the cross being cast on the
ground by his form as he runs. Both pictures are fanciful in form, but their
underlying message is true. If we read the Gospels just as they stand, it is
clear that the death of Jesus Christ was really in view almost from the outset
of his earthly appearance. At first sight there seems little in them about his
death, but as we look deeper we see more. It was part of the divine purpose and
plan for him from the first, and very early we have a hint of the cross in the
words of the aged Simeon to the mother of our Lord: “A sword shall pierce
through thine own heart also.
3) Painting presentation of Jesus in the
Temple: In the museum of the cathedral in Cuenca, Spain, hangs one of
many artistic renderings of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. Included
in this elaborate and colorful scene are representatives of Judaism, namely,
Mary, Joseph, Simeon and Anna and the source of Christianity, namely, Jesus.
Although the Jews and all things Hebrew had been officially expelled from Spain
in AD 1492, the artist, Juan de Borgoña (d. AD 1535), illustrated Luke’s
account of the Presentation with the stated intention of portraying the
necessary continuity between Christianity and Judaism. (Patricia Datchuck
Sánchez).
4) The Presentation of the Lord is among the most
ancient feasts of the Christian Church. We have sermons on the Feast by
Bishops Methodius of Patara (+ 312), Cyril of Jerusalem (+ 360), Gregory the
Theologian (+ 389), Amphilocius of Iconium (+ 394), Gregory of Nyssa (+ 400),
and John Chrysostom (+ 407). Despite its early origin, this Feast was not
celebrated with great splendor until the sixth century. In 528, during the
reign of Justinian, an earthquake killed many people in Antioch. Other
misfortunes followed this one. In 541 a terrible plague broke out in
Constantinople, carrying off several thousand people each day. During this time
of widespread suffering, a solemn prayer service (Litia) for deliverance from
evils was celebrated on the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord, and the plague
ceased. In thanksgiving to God, the Church established a more solemn
celebration of this Feast.
5) “Well, have you ever heard an Amish parent yell?” A
scholar was conducting a study of an Amish village. The Amish are a branch of
the Mennonite church who live in traditional rural villages far from
industrialization and technology: no computers, televisions, refrigerators and
telephones. In his study of the Amish village school, the researcher noticed that
Amish children never screamed or yelled. That surprised him. So he decided to
check it out with the schoolteacher. He told the teacher that he had not once
heard an Amish child yell, and asked him why that was so. The teacher replied,
“Well, have you ever heard an Amish parent yell?” The inference is clear: Like
the parents, so the children!
We are all familiar with Mother’s Day and Father’s Day which
we celebrate every year. Why is there not a Parents’ Day where we celebrate
father and mother together as a couple? Today should be a good day to focus on
both parents together, as we see both parents of Jesus, Joseph and Mary,
together make the long journey to Jerusalem to present their firstborn Child in
the Temple as the law of God required. In the image of Joseph and Mary
presenting Jesus in the Temple, we have a wonderful model of husband and wife
united in practicing the faith and in raising their child in the faith. (Fr.
Munacci).
6) Whatever we are waiting for shows up sooner or
later: A major part of our lives is spent on waiting. We wait for the
baby to be born, we wait for our children to grow up and be independent, we
wait for our retirement; indeed, we spend a lot of time waiting. Besides that
we also have to wait for people who are late, we wait for the bus or train and
whatever. But there is something interesting about waiting. Most of the time,
whatever we are waiting for shows up sooner or later. Simeon and Anna had
waited for a long time, and finally their hope was fulfilled.
7) Bundle of parents’ dreams: Every day,
new parents bring their precious bundle home from its birthing place, convinced
that their child is the most precious baby in the world, and they begin imaging
all the great things this child will accomplish. As they share their dreams for
their child with family and friends, there is always someone ready to throw
cold water on their expectations. One couple recounting this experience when
they had their first child spoke of how indignant they became when anyone would
suggest that, first of all, the child would someday make an independent
decision about life choices and in addition to that, there undoubtedly would be
limitations to what the child might accomplish. Then one day a visiting friend
raved about how wonderful the baby was and how lucky they were to have this
precious bundle. The friend then offered them this bit of advice, “Love your
child with all your heart and soul and present him or her to God every day,
asking His blessings. Give the child encouragement in whatever interests he
displays. If you do that, you will know that you have been good parents. But if
you try to live out your dreams through what you child does, through what he
accomplishes, you will only be frustrated when your child makes his or her own
life choices, especially if they are not the ones you had hoped to see.”
8) “I know that you know Someone Else is taking care
of me”: Bruce and Darlene Marie Wilkinson in their book The Dream
Giver for Parents tell about a teenager who noticed that his father
worried himself nearly to death, trying unsuccessfully to be everywhere and do
everything to protect his child from life’s difficulties. This young man wrote
his father the following note: “I am sure you remember, Dad, how you used to
tell me stories when I was young and was afraid or insecure. Well, I have
noticed that you are often worried about what might become of me when you’re
not there to help. Now I want to remind you of one of the stories we read
together when I was little. It’s the story of the rooster who got up before
dawn every day to sit on the roof of the farmhouse and crow so that the sun
would rise. Because that’s what he really believed: that it was his
responsibility to make the sun come up. He was always afraid that if he didn’t
crow, everything would go wrong. He kept worrying: “What would happen if I fell
ill, or even died? How would the crops grow, and the children wake up in time
for school, and the frost melt, and the flowers blossom if I weren’t there to
make the sun rise? The world would become cold and dark; all the grass and the
trees would die and the people too eventually . . .” Then one evening, Rooster
attended a party and overslept the next morning. The other animals realized
that he was not there to make the sun come up and were just about to panic when
they saw a glimmer of light on the horizon . . . It was the sun rising without
Rooster! Rooster was miserable when he found out that he had nothing to do with
the sun’s rising every morning. And embarrassed! But he was also extremely
relieved. “What a weight off my shoulders,” he thought, “that I don’t have to I
can’t make the sun come up! Yet, every morning, there it is. There must be
Someone Else taking care of all this.”
Dad, you light up my life, but it really isn’t your responsibility
to “make the sun rise for me.” I know that you know Someone Else is taking care
of me. (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2004), pp. 102-103) That was a lesson
that Mary and Joseph had to learn. And it’s a lesson I hope you and I have
learned as well. God will take care of those we love, and God will take care of
us. Mary and Joseph went on with their lives following Christmas, and so shall
we. They faced life’s many challenges, but they did it with love and with faith
in God. It was not easy, but they knew God was with them, just as God is with
us. It’s good to know. Indeed, it’s the best Good News in the world.
9) “And what exactly would that be?” There
was a fascinating conversation on Rush Limbaugh’s talk show a while back.
Having just completed Tom Brokaw’s wonderful book, The Greatest
Generation, a book filled with inspiring stories of the WWII generation,
Rush had taken the position that the current generation of young adults, those
in their 20’s, are, for the most part, a bunch of whiners. He said that while
they are constantly whining and moaning about the difficulty of their lives in
fact, when compared to the hardships faced by their grandparents’ generation,
they’ve actually got it easy. Their grandparents had endured truly devastating
events like The Great Depression and WWII. The current crop of young adults, he
concluded, doesn’t even have a clue about real hardship.
Once Rush had finished his monologue, a self-professed member of this younger generation of adults called in to offer a different perspective. Bright and extremely articulate, the 23 year-old caller said that, while The Great Depression and WWII certainly created terrible hardships for the people who faced them that he, nonetheless, believed his generation faced an even greater hardship.
Limbaugh asked, “And what exactly would that be?” The caller said, “The loss of hope.” He said that his experience indicated that many of today’s young adults had simply stopped believing that things were going to get better. They didn’t expect to live as well as their parents had lived. They weren’t expecting a brighter future. They have simply given up hope. Most of those in his generation, he said, can’t imagine anything worth dying for…and they’re committing suicide in record numbers because many can’t imagine anything worth living for.” Christ’s presence in our lives is as full now as it was for Simeon. The Christ of Christmas brings hope and so much more.
Once Rush had finished his monologue, a self-professed member of this younger generation of adults called in to offer a different perspective. Bright and extremely articulate, the 23 year-old caller said that, while The Great Depression and WWII certainly created terrible hardships for the people who faced them that he, nonetheless, believed his generation faced an even greater hardship.
Limbaugh asked, “And what exactly would that be?” The caller said, “The loss of hope.” He said that his experience indicated that many of today’s young adults had simply stopped believing that things were going to get better. They didn’t expect to live as well as their parents had lived. They weren’t expecting a brighter future. They have simply given up hope. Most of those in his generation, he said, can’t imagine anything worth dying for…and they’re committing suicide in record numbers because many can’t imagine anything worth living for.” Christ’s presence in our lives is as full now as it was for Simeon. The Christ of Christmas brings hope and so much more.
10) “Witnessed by Sandy MacTavish.” Sandy
MacTavish was one of the town drunks in a small village in Scotland. The local
preacher had tried for years without success to get Sandy to go “on the wagon.”
In a last ditch effort, the parson called a meeting at the church of everyone
in town who had trouble with alcohol. He was delighted when he saw Sandy MacTavish
show up and sit in the back pew. He was so inspired that he delivered the most
eloquent sermon of his entire career, telling about the evils of drink and the
harmful effects it had on both body and soul. At the end of the sermon,
he announced that he was sending around a piece of paper that he wanted people
to sign pledging that they would give up drinking. As he watched the list
circulate, everyone signed it including Sandy MacTavish. After the service, he
was so excited that he snatched up the list without looking at it and ran home
to tell his wife about his victory. He unrolled the list before her eyes and
sure enough, written across the bottom were the words, “witnessed by Sandy
MacTavish.” Let Simeon and Anna who witnessed to the Messiah as a Baby,
shape your response to the good news of God’s love shown to us in Bethlehem. It
is what needs to happen once Christmas is over!
11) “Don’t be in a hurry; the teachings of Christ
take time to come to earth.” In the early ’60s, at the height of the civil
rights movement, a group of white ministers issued a public statement urging
Dr. Martin Luther King, in the name of the Christian faith, to be more patient
in his quest for justice and to relax the relentless struggle for civil rights.
King’s response came in the form of the famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
In the letter, King indicated that he had received similar requests for delay,
indeed, that he had just gotten a letter from a “white brother in Texas” who
wrote, “… It is possible you are in too great a religious hurry … The teachings
of Christ take time to come to earth.” Dr. King replied that such an attitude
stemmed from a sad misunderstanding of time, the notion that time itself cures
all ills. Time, King argued, could be used for good or for evil. Human
progress, he said, is not inevitable, but rather …
… it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. King knew that complete justice must await the coming of God. That was the theme of his final sermon in which he proclaimed, “I’ve been to the mountaintop. I’ve seen the promised land.” But he was persuaded that while we wait, “the time is always ripe to do right” [Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” in Why We Can’t Wait (New York: Harper and Row, 1964), p. 89.] Simeon and Anna were also waiting for God to come, but they were not passive in their waiting. Simeon was full of devotion and did what was just. Anna kept the lights burning at the Temple with her ceaseless worship. They waited, but, while they waited, they did what they could.
… it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. King knew that complete justice must await the coming of God. That was the theme of his final sermon in which he proclaimed, “I’ve been to the mountaintop. I’ve seen the promised land.” But he was persuaded that while we wait, “the time is always ripe to do right” [Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” in Why We Can’t Wait (New York: Harper and Row, 1964), p. 89.] Simeon and Anna were also waiting for God to come, but they were not passive in their waiting. Simeon was full of devotion and did what was just. Anna kept the lights burning at the Temple with her ceaseless worship. They waited, but, while they waited, they did what they could.
12) Barbicide: There is an amusing true story
about a man named Maurice King. Maurice became displeased with his barber. His
barber was not particularly adept with a razor. Rarely would Maurice leave this
barber’s shop without a new collection of nicks and scratches. Even more
disturbing, Maurice became a little concerned that his barber’s tools weren’t
as sanitary as they could be. So he invented a germ-killing blue liquid that he
began marketing to barber shops and hair salons. Even today, you walk into any
salon or barber shop and you’ll see glass jars of this pale blue liquid on the
counters. It’s used for soaking razors, scissors, combs and other equipment.
What’s the name of this blue liquid? Barbicide. The name is a little inside
joke thought up by Maurice King after a particularly bad trip to the barber. I
say it’s an inside joke because the word Barbicide means “kill the barber.”
Look for it at your favorite barber shop or hair salon. As foretold by Simeon,
Mary and Joseph didn’t escape life’s nicks and scratches. Neither did Jesus.
Jesus was a child like any other child, and as such he surely had his bumps and
bruises growing up. Mary was likely in her late forties when she experienced
the unspeakable tragedy of watching her son die an excruciating death on the
cross of Calvary. You think you hurt. Imagine how she hurt. “A sword will
pierce your soul.” Life can be very cruel even to the best of people.
Can people ever get any better than the Holy Family of Nazareth — Mary, Joseph
and Jesus? And yet they had difficult lives. L/20
