Have we Failed?
Malachi 3:1-4; Hebrews 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40
Reflecting on my missionary experience in Cameroon, I recall a statement by late Archbishop André Wouking of Yaoundé. It was during his pastoral visit to St. Mark’s Parish, and a woman asked him, in French: “Your Grace, why do you have bad priests?” Archbishop Wouking said, in reply: “it is what you, parents, sent to me that I returned to you; you sent me bad children to become priests, and now they are back to you as your priests”. He added, “the priests are the reflection of what their families and society are”. Today, February 2, 2020, a day dedicated to the “Consecrated Life,” and the Sunday of the “Presentation of the Lord in the Temple,” my question is: Have we failed?
“Have we failed” is a call to a general introspection and a new resolve to change things for the better. It is not an opportunity to point accusing fingers; after all, people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Yet, our indictment comes from the readings of this Sunday, where every segment of the society is represented: priest, prophetess/widow, couple (Mary and Joseph) and children (baby Jesus). Perhaps, no one is innocent! Each person has a responsibility and a duty to discharge for the good of all. The solidarity among family, society and beliefs is key in today’s readings. Yes, solidarity is our message today, the human discharge of individual and collective fidelity to God’s call to us to be Christians, his sons and daughters.
Before this Sunday was dedicated to the Consecrated Life, every 2nd February, it celebrated the Circumcision of Jesus, then, the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. The role of Mary and Joseph in the faith formation of Jesus, even if an angel told them about the divine origin of Jesus, is spectacular. The fact that the humanity of Jesus had to follow our human growth process, and Mary and Joseph had to assume their parental roles, is a huge challenge to parenting today. Jesus was born into a culture, religion and family like the rest of us. The initiation of Jesus into the faith and culture of his parents warranted his circumcision. Although Jesus will start a new religion, Christianity, his parents initiated him into their own religion, Judaism. As long as Jesus was under parental responsibility, he had to attend Jewish religious worships and gatherings, led by his parents. In obedience to Scripture, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple today for circumcision—for him to be initiated into the religion of Israel and the worship of God.
Just as Mary and Joseph give us an example of a family playing its role in the faith formation of their child, religious leaders of the day too were not absent at their duty posts as ministers of God. There was so much connection between the religious leader of the moment, Simeon, so much so that he could hear God directly. Before the child Jesus could be brought to him, he anticipated the child’s arrival. He was so attuned to God that it was the Holy Spirit that asked him to go into the Temple to wait for the arrival of the Son of God. Simeon encountered God—Jesus—in the very discharge of his ministerial duties. The fidelity of Simeon obtained a special favor for him—he was told the hour of his death! Having performed his religious duties for God and to God, he did not ask for extra-time, he accepted his death, reminded God that his time was up, as God had directed.
The Temple was not the exclusive domain of priests, the faithful also were there. Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, was at the Temple worshipping God day and night for decades. She became the mouth-piece of God announcing the arrival of the Messiah among God’s people. Mary and Joseph were no idle bystanders either: “and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted—and you yourself a sword will pierce—so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.’”
“Solidarity” is apt to describe the massage of this Sunday because the mundane and the religious are brought together as one. The duties and responsibilities of parenthood are sacred duties given to human beings by God. Those who spend time and energy in the Temple are also discharging their God-given duties and responsibilities. To think of today as a day for Consecrated Life is to discover that God is the source and originator of all positive vocations—marriage and religious lives. The entirety of the human family is called to a life of dedicated service to God through our respective vocations. If you are a parent, imitate Mary and Joseph; if you are a minister or laity, Anna and Simeon are models of fidelity and dedication for our emulation. Like the circumcision of Jesus, we all have been baptized and consecrated by that sacrament to belong exclusively to God in body and spirit. It is our collective consecration and fidelity to God in our different vocations that will transform the world.
In our deconsecrated world, Mary and Joseph teach us that the directives for our lives is contained in the sacred Scripture: they went to the Temple to accomplish for Jesus what was commanded in the Scripture. How many families know, not to talk of practice, what Scripture says? Anna, a widow, spent all her time in the Temple, fasting, praying and worshiping God day and night. How many of us remember the road to the house of God, not to mention being inside to pray night and day? Simeon, the minister of God, was described as “righteous and devout”. How many ministers of God today, priests and religious, can receive the testimony of being “devout and righteous” from the people they serve? How many priests and religious today still have time to listen to and hear God communicate with them as he did with Simeon?
Yet, Jesus took human nature to teach us the power therein, not just the weakness of the flesh! According to our second reading, the same flesh that leads human beings to sin, Jesus used it to destroy sin and Satan, the author of sin! The lighted candles we carry today leads us back to our baptismal consecration and fidelity to our promises at baptism. The same candle light in our hands reminds us of Jesus Christ as our light. The candle light obliges and encourages us to go out into the world to make our Christian light to shine before all of God’s creation and creatures.
Indeed, you and I are Malachim—the messengers of God. It is to us that the opening statement of our first reading is addressed: “Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me”. We must not fail God as bad priests, parents, children, etc. Today, is another opportunity to go out and to shine the light of faith through the example of our lives and activities. But, “have we failed?”
Assignment for the Week:
Avail yourself of the sacrament of Confession/Reconciliation this week, to reconsecrate yourself to God.