My Eyes See Your Salvation!

February 2, 2014
The Presentation of the Lord

 

Mal 3, 1-4 /Heb 2, 14-18 / Lk 2, 22-40

 

Luke recalls the presentation of the child Jesus in the Jerusalem temple.  He makes a point that this child will be raised as a Jew.  Three times he says Joseph and Mary fulfilled what the law of Moses required.  Jesus will be raised in a kosher home.  He will grow, become strong and wise as a Jew.  But in the gospel Luke is also making another presentation.  And it’s a more underlying presentation.  He is presenting Jesus to us.  He is showing us who Jesus is and therefore what it will mean for us to follow him – to become his disciples.  Luke does this through Simeon – through what Simeon does and says.

Simeon takes the child into his arms.  The action describes what the disciple does: takes Jesus into his life.  And Simeon blesses God saying: Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace…  These words follow the traditional formula used to free a slave from bondage.  The words describe what becomes of the disciple: he becomes free.  Taking Jesus into your life is freeing.  Becoming a disciple takes away old bondage.  The way John the Baptist will put it in the Gospel of John is that following Jesus will take away the sin of the world.  Following Jesus will mean removing the grip, the stranglehold sin has on us and will open us up to being really free.  Returning to Simeon, he puts the same thing this way: here in the way Jesus will live his life among us – here we actually see what our salvation – what our freedom- will look like. My eyes see your salvation!  We see in Jesus the shape of our salvation and freedom as his disciples.

But I want to focus on what Simeon says next.  He says something crucially important to understand the real shape of our freedom as disciples of Jesus.  He calls Jesus a light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory for your people Israel.  The importance lies in the order: first, a light… for the Gentiles, and only then, in second place, for the glory of your people Israel.  To mention Israel after the Gentiles represents a real reversal.  It conveys the sense that Israel’s “glory” consists in having a role to play for others – for the Gentiles.  Israel’s “glory” is not holding on to herself for dear life but letting herself go – going beyond her own boundaries – to become “light for the world”.  Israel’s “glory” is not to exist just for herself – but for the world.  Her glory is that she does not belong to herself – but to the world.

Jesus, the son of David, the faithful Jew becomes the son of Man – becomes the man for others – not just for Jews.  He does not cling to religious boundaries.  Though deeply grateful for them, he does not insist on his own Jewish identity and traditions.  Rather, he calls anyone doing the will of God – doing the love of God – he calls them my brother and sister and mother [Mk 3, 35].  Jesus does not exist for himself.  He does not belong to himself.  He belongs to the world.  And his belonging to the world – his belonging to others – shows us the shape of our freedom.  As his disciples we do not belong to ourselves.  As individuals, as parish, as Church we simply do not belong to ourselves but are there for the sake of the world – for the sake of other people – especially the neediest.  Church is us being there for all – and so becoming brother, sister and mother to Jesus.

 Following Jesus will mean for us taking away the sin in our lives of being there just for ourselves – just for our group – just for our church. It will free us from the narrow life, lived in constant self-concern and self-reference, and open us to the beauty and the needs of other people.  As our Catholic sisters and brothers from Latin America assure us, “Life grows by being given away, and it weakens in isolation and comfort.”[Aparecida Document, 360].

We gather as good Catholics – as disciples – called to belong to Jesus by no longer belonging to ourselves.  Let us be Church – there for all – and so become brother, sister and mother to the living Jesus.

 

 

Fr. Pat Earl, SJ