Homily, Feast of the Presentation
Mal 3:1-4; Heb 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40
La Presentación. The Presentation. Our Latino sisters and brothers understand this so well. In addition to the Rite of Baptism, they also have something called La Presentación, the Presentation. The child is presented to God in much the way we see in the Gospel today, the way Mary and Joseph presented Jesus. It is an act of dedication or consecration. It begins in infancy and grows through life. Notice that we hear Jesus grew in wisdom, age and grace. Just like us!
Scripture scholar Richard Sklba makes the point about growing in our consecration to God as we cooperate. “Although the action of Christ may be once and for all, the effect of that reality in our lives is not; it continues to deepen or diminish. Being ‘consecrated,’ like being ‘perfected,’ is a lifetime process (Richard J. Sklba. Fire Starters. Liturgical Press. Collegeville, MN: 2013. p 44).
How do we continue to grow in our dedication or consecration to God? Vatican II teaches that the call to holiness is universal. It is also perennial. Hopefully with each passing year, we grow in holiness; that is, we grow to be conformed more closely to his image. It depends on what we do with our freedom.
As I said last week, we are an intentional formation community as a university parish, Newman Center. Everything we do is designed to foster the growth of our students, and our own as well, as we support and nurture them. It is never easy, and sometimes it is difficult. This is how we grow. It wasn’t easy for Mary and Joseph either.
This is a great feast for parents. It illustrates what parents go through and we can look ahead to see what Mary and Joseph will suffer as they raise this child. We don’t hear much about Jesus again until he’s twelve when he is not presented in the temple, but rather, he presents himself in the temple, teaching the teachers. As much as Mary and Joseph suffered on that occasion, looking for a lost child, they also prepared him for this moment in his destiny. This is what all good parents do, forming their children to meet their futures. Then you trust your children to God just as Mary and Joseph did. We trust that God will be there, present and active.
As Mary and Joseph, Anna and Simeon waited for the coming of this child, so we, too, wait for the Holy Spirit to assist us in our own growth in dedication to God and God’s work.
Lent is coming soon. We can plan now for the works and activities that will assist us in growing in our dedication to God as we present our lives to him in service and in praise.
In the end Mary presented here son yet again – at the foot of the Cross. The human formation that he had received form Mary and Joseph had prepared him to present his life to God the Father: “Father, into your hand I commend my Spirit. In the end we all present our lives to God. If we have cooperated with God’s grace, as Alice Camille has noted, Mary will be there to assist us just as she did her Son.
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