Presentation of Our Lord

Today Jesus is brought for the first time to his temple, to fulfil the duties prescribed by the Jewish Law. He comes in his mother’s arms; he is too little to be able to walk. Joseph brings a pair of pigeons. They were a poor family and couldn’t afford a lamb. A poet says that because God couldn’t find poverty in heaven, he came to find it on earth. After all these centuries waiting for the Messiah, when he arrived, there was no party to welcome him. Only two people recognised him. God normally comes unnoticed; he likes to hide and disappear. We are the ones who need to look for him. We complain that he doesn’t appear to us. He doesn’t like to impose himself; he prefers to respect our freedom. He gives us enough signs for us to notice his presence.

How did Simeon discover Jesus? What did he see? We don’t know; but we know that Simeon in spite of being very old, he had a very young heart. He was looking forward to see the Messiah. And thanks to his hope in his faith he was going to meet him, his heart was full of love, and he had the right vision. His eyes discovered him among the multitude of babies brought by their parents to be rescued. Old people are normally grumpy, complaining about the past and making life unbearable to people around them. Simeon was the opposite; he was a sweet gentle man, of good humour, optimistic, full of life with bright dark eyes. He was looking forward to meeting God. We must have the same attitude. Every day that passes, we are one day closer to meeting him. Our Lord is coming. All we need to do is wait for him, standing up, walking towards him. Every night, before going to bed, when the priest prays the divine office, he repeats Simeon’s words: Nunc dimitis; let me go now in peace to encounter your presence.

We are jealous of Simeon: he took baby Jesus in his arms. Mary let him have the baby. Not many people managed to do so. We too ask her for this privilege. But she will ask us to wash our hands, comb our hair and clean our shoes. Maybe we need to go to confession first, forgive a grudge or to apologise to somebody about something we find difficult to recognise.

Simeon didn’t bring good news to the young couple. Till now all the announcements of the angels were full of joy and hope. After a month of silence, some of the questions they had about the future of this child were answered by Simeon: he was going to be a sign of contradiction. This baby was going to bring mixed feelings, suffering and joy, cross and glory, all at the same time. From now on, people won’t be able to remain indifferent at his passing. You either have to be with him or against him. To follow him is great, but it is going to bring together two extremes: a joy rooted on a wooden cross.

Simeon said something softly, in a low voice, only for Mary to hear: “A sword will pierce through your own soul.” She had sensed it already when the angel asked her to be the mother of God. It is something every mother finds out when they have a baby. Life brings sorrow; love fosters suffering. She began to experience the cross before her son. It was a prophecy that was going to find its consummation at Calvary. In the same way Jesus’ breast was pierced by a lance, opening his heart for us, Mary’s soul was going to be penetrated by a sword, for us to see her motherly love for us.

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The Beatitudes

One of the most beautiful places in the Holy Land is where the church of the Beatitudes is located. It is built on a grassy hill with an amazing view of the lake of Gennesaret. It is one of those places that hasn’t changed much. It is situated on the northwest side of the lake, three kilometers from Capernaum. The area is called Tabgha, meaning seven springs, still flowing down towards the lake. There are two other churches in proximity, on the site of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish, and the primacy of Peter. The church is built in an octagon, in remembrance of the eight beatitudes. You can walk around the outside of the church on a covered veranda, contemplating the lake and the surrounding countryside. You are tempted to keep circling the church watching the panorama and praying about the Beatitudes.

The Prophets of old used to preach from the top of the hill for people to be able to hearthem. We see here a classic depiction of Jesus inscribed in our minds, preaching the Gospel to the crowds, sitting down while people remain at his feet, listening to him, completely absorbed in his words. Pope Francis stresses the importance of “how the proclamation of this message happened: Jesus, seeing the crowds that followed Him, climbs up the gentle slope that surrounds the Lake of Galilee; He sits down and, addressing His disciples, proclaims the Beatitudes. Therefore, the message is directed to the disciples, however, the crowds are on the horizons, namely, the whole of humanity. It’s a message for the whole of humanity.” It is the attitude we must have for entering the kingdom of heaven.

It is not easy to preach about the Beatitudes, to give a meaningful commentary about them. We priests try to avoid them. Why? Maybe because you need to be very close to Jesus to be able to explain them well. Thank God they speak for themselves. You only need to read them and pray about them, listen to their voice. Once they left Jesus lips, they have a life of their own. Their sound keeps moving through time, amplifying their waves among the history of men.

They are simple and profound. They speak to us in many different ways. They are very practical, proposing ideas for our own lives. We can try to live them now, today, during the course of the day. They push us to make small resolutions that will bring us closer to God and to others. This is why it is so difficult and so easy to talk about them: they become very personal, suggesting down to earth ideas, like bubbles of soap, popping out from the tube, that resonate specifically to each one of us. This is why we don’t like to read them very often; too many desires come to our minds, with dangerous changes in our way of life. We prefer to close the book and leave it for tomorrow.

Maybe I have been a bit negative in my outlook today. The Beatitudes are very demanding and I am getting old. Time makes things more difficult. It is easy to become discouraged. We tried them and we failed. We didn’t find them wanting, but we found ourselves failing. We need to keep trying, hoping that one day God will lift us up, whenever He wants to.

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Follow me

Jesus begins what we call his public life calling twelve men to follow him, to accompany him, to share his life. We call them apostles, the one who is sent out. They are going to hear his message and to be entrusted with the task of passing it on to others. Most of them were fishermen, rough guys, not very smart; one of them betrayed him and the leader of them denied him three times. At the end, all of them but John ran away from his passion at Calvary. Their weaknesses give us hope. We too begin a new year in our lives and we have an opportunity to make a renewed commitment to follow Jesus a bit closer. Last year we ran away from the cross. Hopefully this year we can keep him company.

”Follow me.” This is what Jesus told them, how he called them. He is asking them to follow him, to walk behind him, to try to place their feet in his footprints. This means to imitate him, to become more like him, to keep his pace. To follow a perfect man. It was love at first sight. They were all attracted to him. There is nobody like Jesus. We can try to find the perfect person, but we will never find him. Only Jesus can fill all our expectations; he is the one we have been looking for. And this is what he is reminding us today: “You have been created to love me; only in me can you find happiness; that’s why I am asking you to follow me.” Every year, every day, every hour, he is telling us the same. Because we don’t listen, because we stray from the path, because we get distracted, because we follow him from a distance, he is never tired of repeating the same: “Follow me.” It is the best for us.

“Follow me.” Follow my footsteps, follow my direction, follow my pace. It is not easy. We go either too fast or too slow. We can be doing too many things, with plenty of activity, but we are not concentrating on what’s important. We don’t have our priorities right. Saint Augustine says: bene curris, sed extra viam; you run well, but off the path. Or maybe our laziness is in command, we procrastinate, we become indifferent, and we are going at a tortoise pace. Jesus’ pace is the right one for us. He knows us well. If we go too fast, we overtake him; if we go too slowly, we miss him. For us to know the way is to follow him. We all would like to know what is ahead of us and plan accordingly. But God wants us to fix our eyes on Him and not to worry about what lies ahead of us. We should trust Him as a good loving father. We only need to look at Him to know we are on the right path.

Is it a command or a request? It is a gift. It is a hidden treasure, a pearl of great value, a bright diamond, a big star shining in the night sky. If we know where we are coming from and where we are going to, it is easier to recognise the value of our treasure. It is a big grace, an amazing offering, that God presents to us. Many are called but only few are chosen. Here we are. And we follow him dragging our feet.

We are chosen for two tasks: to be with him and to be sent to others. To get to know Jesus Christ and to introduce him to others. The more we know him the better we can present him to our friends and relatives. We need to discover him, to recognise who he is to be able to show him to others. A treasure cannot be hidden. A great treasure becomes greater when it is shared.

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