Presentation of the Lord

Presentation of the Lord (February 2)

Readings: Malachi 3:1-4         Hebrews 2:14-18         Luke 2:22-40

            With the feast of the Presentation, the forty-day Christmas season comes to its true climax.  As Christian believers receive blessed candles and process into the church, the community celebrates the joyous purpose of Christ’s coming: the revelation of God’s saving love to the lowly and faithful of Israel and to the whole Gentile world.  On a more somber yet consoling note, the community learns that this savior is “a sign that will be opposed” as he comes to establish justice and expiate sin as a suffering but also “merciful and faithful” high priest who will help us in our temptation-filled journeys in the service of God’s justice.

            The first reading from Malachi announces the terrible yet purifying arrival of the Lord of hosts in the Temple.  In the half century after the completion of the Second Temple (c. 515-450), the once fervent postexilic community lapsed into indifference in cultic matters (Mal 1:6-14) and neglect of covenantal justice (Mal 2:10-16; 3:5).  The apparent prosperity of the wicked had led many to question even the justice of God (Mal 2:17).  Responding to this general malaise, the prophet as “God’s messenger” (the meaning of Malachi) announces the imminent arrival in the Temple of the holy God of justice who will purify the sons of Levi, known to be performing shoddy services for the community, so that the sacrifices of Judah and Jerusalem will again be acceptable to the Lord.  In the next verse (3:5), unfortunately not included in the reading, the prophet announces the Lord’s judgment on the sins against covenantal justice of the whole community: “I will draw near to you for judgment,/ and I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, adulterers, and perjurers,/ those who defraud widows and orphans;/those who turn aside the stranger,/ and those who do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.”

            Hebrews is a treatise written as an exhortation to Christians who are in danger of apostasy, not because of external persecution but from a weariness in living the demands of the Christian calling (see Heb 2:1; 4:14; 6:1-12; 10:23-32).  To counteract this indifference to the gospel’s demands, Hebrews presents Jesus in a unique way as “the merciful and faithful high priest” who had a full share in humanity’s condition of being in flesh and blood, including a life of testing, temptation, suffering and death.  Jesus’ death was not a defeat, but rather a victory that robbed “the devil, the prince of death,” of power.  Now that Jesus has triumphed through his testing, he is the exalted heavenly high priest who is able to help the children of Abraham; they too must struggle to be faithfully obedient through a pilgrimage of testing and suffering.  “Since he was himself tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are tempted.”

            Luke’s account of the child Jesus’ presentation in the Temple by his pious parents is not only intended to recount the surprisingly joyful fulfillment of messianic expectations but also to introduce the ominous note of opposition, rejection and suffering in Jesus’ ministry   His arrival in the Temple begins the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy (Mal 3:1); by the end of the gospel and throughout Acts, it will be clear that the Temple is doomed for its rejection of Jesus (cf. 13:34-35; 19:41-48; 21:5-6; Acts 7).  Like the pious Zechariah and Elizabeth (1:6), Jesus’ parents fulfill the laws for the purification of the mother (cf. Lev 12:2-8) and the dedication of the first-born (Ex 13:2, 12).  The fact that Jesus is brought to the temple for the second ritual, which is not required in the law (Exodus 13; Num 3:47-48), is important for Luke’s theology and is probably based on the parallel story of Samuel’s presentation in 1 Sam 1:24-28. 

The centerpiece of today’s Gospel scene is Simeon’s Nunc dimittis.  As a representative of the `anawim, the poor of the Lord who await the kingdom of justice, Simeon is moved by the Holy Spirit to take Jesus in his arms and proclaim the good news of the long-awaited arrival of the “light of revelation to the Gentiles” (cf. Isa 40:5; 49:6).  Simeon’s prophetic vision also encompasses the divisive character of Jesus’ ministry.  His proclamation of the Father’s forgiving love is destined to bring about the downfall and rise of many in Israel (see, for example, Luke 7).  Mary’s own blessedness will be challenged by Jesus himself when he announces that true blessedness is “hearing the word of God and observing it” (cf. 1:38-45; 2:19; 8:20-21; 11:27-28).  Using a familiar Lukan technique, the evangelist pairs Simeon and Anna, another of the `anawim, who as a prophetess thanks God for the Messiah’s arrival and begins to talk about the child “to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.” 

3rd Sunday A

3^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Readings: Isaiah 8:23‑9:3  1 Corinthians 1:10‑13,17  Matthew 4:12‑23

In today's Gospel Matthew presents the beginning of Jesus' public proclamation of the kingdom of heaven as the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of "a great light" arising for "a people living in darkness."   As we hear the beginning of Jesus' preaching in Galilee, let us identify with the first apostles‑‑ Peter, Andrew, James, and John‑‑ by responding whole‑heartedly to the demands of God's kingdom with the refrain of the responsorial psalm: "The Lord is my light and my salvation" (Ps 27:1a). 

The Isaiah reading is the opening section of a messianic oracle which describes the Lord's deliverance of Israel from the Assyrian armies.  At first, the Lord had "degraded the land of  Zebulun and the land of Naphtali" by allowing Assyria under Tiglath‑pileser III to take captives and territory from those  tribes, but now "he has glorified the seaward road, the land west  of the Jordan, the District of the Gentiles" through a mighty deliverance of his people from the Assyria imperialists.  The prophet goes on to praise the Lord for his victory. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;/ Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.” The people of Israel rejoice "as at the harvest" or “when dividing spoils," because the Lord has smashed "the yoke that burdened them,/ the pole on their shoulder,/ and the rod of  their taskmaster . . . as on the day of Midian" (cf. Judges 6-7).

In the second reading from the beginning of 1 Corinthians, Paul is combating the problem of factionalism.  The Corinthian community has divided into groups claiming allegiance to Paul, Apollos (another apostle from Alexandria in Egypt), Cephas (Peter), and Christ.   For Paul such division is rooted in a misunderstanding of the gospel message.  The Christian gospel is not the "wisdom" of a particular Christian preacher.  In fact, by the standards of philosophical wisdom, the gospel is “folly” because its content is the cross, i.e., the message about Jesus, a crucified Messiah.   Paul asks the Corinthians, who seem to be allied to the apostle who had baptized them, "Is Christ divided?  Was it Paul who was crucified for you?  Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”   He then reminds them of the difference between the worldly wisdom of philosophy and the power of the cross. “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the

gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.”

Matthew's account of the beginning of Jesus' preaching proclaims that a new age has dawned when the light of salvation is manifest to the whole world.  John's arrest serves as a kind of signal for Jesus to begin his mission.  After first withdrawing from the desert of Judea to Galilee, Jesus leaves his home town of Nazareth and takes up residence in Capernaum, a small fishing village on the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee.  Despite the apparent obscurity of this place in contrast to the capital and temple city of Jerusalem, Matthew understands Jesus' Galilean ministry as the ultimate fulfillment of Isaiah's ancient prophecy. "Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali/ the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, heathen Galilee:/ a people living in darkness has seen a great light./ On those who inhabit a land overshadowed by death, light has arisen."

Jesus' initial preaching is exactly the same as John's:  “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (cf. Matt 3:2).  The term “kingdom of heaven” is Matthew's reverent paraphrase for "kingdom of God."  It does not mean heaven in the sense of a disembodied afterlife with God, but rather it refers to the arrival of God's kingdom of justice and peace within this world, as will be evident in Jesus' preaching in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5‑7).

In contrast to John whose mission was limited to preaching repentance and baptizing in the desert of Judea (Matthew 3), Jesus begins a more public and universal mission by calling common fisherman to leave their nets and become “fishers of men” (see Jer 16:11).  Eventually their mission will extend to all the nations (see Matt 28:16‑20).  This universality is anticipated in Jesus' initial tour through the whole of Galilee which Matthew summarizes in the following way. “He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.”  Our lives as Christian are to be a joyful extension of that universal healing mission.

2nd Sunday A

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Readings: Isaiah 49:3,5‑6  1 Corinthians 1:1‑3  

John 1:29‑34

In these Sundays of Ordinary Time between the Christmas season and Lent, the Church presents us with the demands of our Christian vocation.  We are called to be a holy people who, like John the Baptist in the Gospel, give testimony to the presence of Jesus in our midst.  Let us open ourselves to the rigors of that call as we sing the refrain of this Sunday's responsorial psalm: "Here am I, Lord;/ I come to do your will" (Ps 40:8a and 9a).

            In the first reading the prophet Second Isaiah speaks of Israel's vocation in the language of a prophetic call.  Influenced by the humiliation of the nation's exile in Babylon, Second Isaiah envisions a new task for Israel; it is to be God's "servant" (`ebed).  Speaking as if he is servant, Israel, the prophet gives a first person report of Israel's coming to a new understanding of its vocation.  Not only is Israel called to repent of its sins in exile and be gathered to the Lord, but now it is to be "a light to the nations" by witnessing to the Lord's powerful saving action in bringing the nation home from exile. “The Lord said to me: you are my servant,/ Israel, through whom I show my glory./ Now the Lord has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb,/ that Jacob may be brought back to him/ and Israel gathered to him;/ . . . It is too little . . . for you to be my servant,/ to raise up the tribes of Jacob,/ . . . I will make you a light to the nations,/ that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” 

Paul's greeting at the beginning of First Corinthians continues the theme of God's call.  In his salutation Paul stresses both his own call and that of the community at Corinth.   As he often does in his letters, Paul identifies himself by giving his apostolic credentials: "Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God".  His message is never simply his own; it is always related to his mission to be an apostle of the crucified and risen Christ.   "The Church of God that is in Corinth" also has a call based on what Christ has done for it.  Paul addresses the Corinthian Christians with the words:  "you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be a holy with all those everywhere who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours."  This is language taken from the Hebrew Scriptures where Israel is called to be "kingdom of priests, a holy nation" (Exod 19:6; see also Lev 19).  As Paul will elaborate in the body of the letter, the Corinthians have been consecrated at a great price, the very blood of the crucified  Christ, which has made the whole community and the individuals who make it up, "the temple of God" and "the  body  of Christ" (see 1 Cor 3:16‑17; 5:12‑20; 11:17‑34; 12:12‑26). As such, they are called to live holy lives of loving consideration for one another (see 1 Corinthians 13).

This Sunday's Gospel is John the Baptist's testimony to Jesus from John's gospel.  The Baptist has the role of the first witness to Jesus' identity as the saving light who has come from God (see John 1:6‑9).  Therefore, when Jesus appears in Bethany across the Jordan, John immediately identifies him with the words: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.  He is the one of whom I said, ‘a man is coming who ranks ahead of me because

he existed before me.'"

John goes on to speak of his own task “in baptizing with water” in order to make Jesus “known to Israel.”  He admits that at first he did not recognize Jesus, but he testifies that “the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’”  When John sees the descent of the Spirit upon Jesus, he performs his task: “Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.” 

As we meditate on our own Christian vocations, we might humbly take John the Baptist as our model.  He does not proclaim himself or claim any title for himself (see John 1:19‑21).  He is content with the role of pointing to “the one among you whom you do not recognize” (John 1:26).  When the priests and Levites from Jerusalem ask John to identify himself, he simply says: "I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the desert, "Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as Isaiah the prophet said." (John 1:23) 

Baptism of the Lord A

Baptism of the Lord A 

Readings: Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7    Acts 10:34-38      Matthew 3:13-17

The feast of the Baptism of the Lord marks a transition between the Christmas season, during which we celebrate the mystery of the incarnation, and the beginning of Ordinary Time, when we re-experience the saving mission of Jesus by commemorating his public actions and teachings as recorded in the various gospels.  During this year’s A cycle of readings we will hear Matthew’s Gospel, and so today we are presented with Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism.  Today’s feast reveals Jesus as God’s obedient Son and servant who has been anointed with God’s powerful Spirit to bring “the good news of peace” to the children of Israel and the nations of the world.  In the words of the refrain for the responsorial psalm, we pray: “The Lord will bless his people with peace” (Ps 29:11b).

In the first reading from the Book of Isaiah, Israel’s vocation as the Lord’s humble “servant” is to bring forth justice to the nations.  In contrast to the grandiose political expectations of nationalistic prophets, Second Isaiah, who is living in exile in Babylon, sees Israel fulfilling its task through a gentle preaching mission: “. . . not crying out, not shouting,/ not making his voice heard in the street./ A bruised reed he shall not break,/ and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,/ until he establishes justice on the earth;/ the coastlands will wait for his teaching.”

No longer can the exiles understand their destiny in narrow nationalistic terms.  They must now see themselves “as a covenant of the people,/ a light for the nations.”  We Christians believe Jesus, the crucified Messiah, is the ultimate fulfillment of this gentle servant figure.

In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter’s sermon at the baptism of Cornelius also alludes to the universalism implicit in Jesus’ ministry which began with John’s baptism when he was anointed with “the Holy Spirit and power.”  Cornelius is the first Gentile convert to Christianity in Acts; he was a devout Roman centurion who was already praying to the God of the Jews and giving alms to them (Acts 10:1-8).  As always in Luke-Acts, the initiative for this all important stage in the spreading of the gospel has come from God.  In a vision an angel of God tells Cornelius: “Your prayers and almsgiving have ascended as a memorial offering before God.  Now send some men to Joppa and summon one Simon who is called Peter” (Acts 10:4).  In the meantime, Peter also learns through a vision that God has overridden the Jewish dietary laws by declaring that all foods are clean, so that he goes with Cornelius’ emissaries when they invite him (Acts 10:17-29).  When Peter hears of Cornelius’ vision, he affirms all that God has done by beginning his sermon with the words: “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.”

Although Matthew’s baptism scene is very brief, it is filled with theological significance.  In the dialogue between John and Jesus, the Baptist recognizes that Jesus is his superior. Upon seeing Jesus, he exclaims, “I need to be baptized by you, yet you are coming to me!”  Jesus replies with his first spoken words in the gospel: “Allow it for now for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”  In Matthew, Jesus will be God’s obedient son who brings righteousness by fulfilling or bringing to completion the will of God expressed in the Law and the Prophets (see Matt 5:17-20).

God’s approval of Jesus’ obedience in this first public act is evident in the solemn revelatory scene which follows the baptism. “After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him.”  The descent of God’s Spirit upon Jesus is his “anointing” as the Messiah, the long-awaited Son of God promised in the Jewish Scriptures (2 Sam 7:14; Ps 2).  Jesus is not, however, the powerful political and military Messiah expected in some traditions.  God’s heavenly voice identifies him with the gentle servant of the first reading from Isaiah:  “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  As we listen to the teaching of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel throughout this year, we will be fully instructed by this Jesus who says: “Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”  (Matt 11:28-30)