C Cycle – Presentation of the Lord 25

Lk. 2:22-40

Simeon was a righteous man told by God, “…he would not die until he had seen the Christ.” Every day, he went to the temple wondering if that day would be the day. Anna, like Simeon, was advanced in years. She was a “prophetess” who never left the temple but worshiped day and night fasting and praying.  Each of them would have seem a constant flow of women entering the temple with their newborn “male’ child to fulfill the law of purification (Lev.12:2-8)? 

Simeon had no inkling that what was told to him by God would be fulfilled that day.  Anna, like all Israelites, was awaiting the coming Christ. She knew instantly that the child in front of her was the promised one of God.  This gospel story is a wonderful story of how fulfilling the demands of the law can suddenly turn into an encounter that resonates deep within and propels expectations into realities. 

 What do you expect to happen today as you fulfill the demands of the law?  Do we come and go without even considering today might be the day when everything changes.  The scriptures tell us Anna was 91 years old and Simeon’s like Anna, was very old.  How many times had they entered the temple and left wondering when the Messiah would come? Yet, they maintained their belief that they would.  Daily, they went into the temple expecting to encounter the Christ. 

How many times have you heard someone, particularly a member of your household tell you “Mass is boring.”  In one aspect we, like Mary, come to worship to fulfill the law.  Without thinking, we come, and we leave without any expectation.  Is it an obligation without any expectations?  Do we go to a conference or attend a spiritual program or a praise and worship session without expectations?  No, we are expecting the same as last week.  We need to expect the Spirit to up a desire for more of something we cannot find words to describe that desire.   

St. Agustine called it “our restless hearts” seeking to encounter Christ.  To satisfy that hunger we need to do more than just follow the law and fulfill obligations.  We should take the approach of Simeon and Anna and expect to encounter Christ.  Not just sacramentally but physically opening our eyes and senses to know He is present.  From the very moment we enter the building, we become a part of something bigger than ourselves. We join brothers and sisters in worship and in one sense with fasting and prayer.   Not fasting from food but separating ourselves from the world to enter a place where Christ desires to feed us with spiritual food. 

We come each week without doing anything to prepare ourselves for an encounter with Christ, because we are programed to “attend mass.”  We need to change our understanding of why we are here.  We can begin to build that expectation by knowing why we show up each week.  We come to give thanks to God for the gift of Jesus Christ.  Thanksgiving – the root meaning of Eucharist is thanksgiving.  What we are experiencing in our lives may not be a reason for thanks.  That is a great reason to seek the presence of Christ who invited us to go to Him when our burden is heavy.  

We come to give thanks for no matter what is happening in our lives, God promises us He will never leave us nor forsake us.  We give thanks for as unfaithful as we have been, God offers us wholeness and desires to heal our wounds and tells us how much He delights in us.  We come to give thanks for the promise God made to Simeon He has made to us. We will encounter Him in this lifetime. We will feel His presence and experience His love in this lifetime. 

It is not just a waiting game we come because we believe it is possible this day, this hour, this minute and at this mass.  It is a mindset change, which has us expecting the songs we sing to move us to worship the living God.  It begins by listening to the prayers of the Church and entering their words – “may the peace of Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you.”  Allow that peace to enter your heart at that moment. Allow the love of God to enfold you and allow yourself to feel the embrace of the Father and allow the Spirit to speak to your heart for the next hour.      

Prior to the readings pray for the Holy Spirit to enlighten you so they speak to your heart for the next twenty minutes as the word in opened for you by a priest or deacon.  Then enter the sacrifice of Jesus and what His death and resurrection made possible for you.  It has freed us to allow grace to wash over us and make us holy people.  We approach the altar of sacrifice with expectant hearts and invite Jesus into our hearts and expect the transforming power of His death and the power of the Holy Spirit to fill our expectations with an encounter so profound it changes us.

Like Simeon we will encounter Christ, and we will look back on all those times when our expectations were rooted in a complacent faith that was not truly seeking.  Instead, it was rooted in what could be seen by others and not allowing God to touch those areas of your hearts where our sins condemn us.  He came to make us whole not to condemn us.  Let us leave today purified by God.