When the days were completed for their purification
according to the law of Moses,
They took him up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord,
just as it is written in the law of the Lord,
Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,
and to offer the sacrifice of
a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,
in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.
This man was righteous and devout,
awaiting the consolation of Israel,
and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit
that he should not see death
before he had seen the Christ of the Lord.
He came in the Spirit into the temple;
and when the parents brought in the child Jesus
to perform the custom of the law in regard to him,
He took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:
“Now, Master, you may let your servant go
in peace, according to your word,
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you prepared in sight of all the peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and glory for your people Israel.”
The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;
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.”
There was also a prophetess, Anna,
the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.
She was advanced in years,
having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.
She never left the temple,
but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
And coming forward at that very time,
she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child
to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.
When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions
of the law of the Lord,
they returned to Galilee,
to their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom;
and the favor of God was upon him.
This reading often leads to a lot of confusion… We believe that Mary was a spotless virgin, and Jesus was not conceived in sin, so why did Mary need to go to the temple for ritual cleansing? Even more, many of the church fathers teach that Mary was a perpetual virgin, so that means that Mary did not labor in child brith, and her virginity was left in tact, and not damaged as the result of normal childbirth. Thomas Aquinas taught that Jesus passed from her womb into the world like light passes through glass, thus leaving Mary unaltered by childbirth. So why did they go to the temple for ritual cleansing? The most logical answer was that they were obedient to the law of Moses, and were honoring that law. Just as Jesus later allows himself to be baptised by John, both Jesus and Mary are telling the world that no one is abouve the law, and that we all need to be as obedient.
While, all that is absolutely true, there is also another reason, which I think is even more amazing…. the return of God’s presence to the temple. In the book of the prophet Ezekiel (circa 590 BC), he wrote that the presence of God (the Shekinah cloud) left the temple, never to return. That same temple, was later destroyed in 586 BC, and Even after the temple was rebuilt, the glory cloud never returned, and the temple was left desolate. So for approximately the next 580+ years the presence of the lord was not in the world.
But then Jesus was born, and by this simple act of going to the temple for ritual cleansing, Mary was fulfilling a moment that the Jewish people had been waiting centuries for…, Mary the new Ark of the covenant brought the presence of the lord (in the baby Jesus) back into the temple. Fulfilling the prophesy of Ezekiel, and all of the prophets before him who also spoke of this time. The temple priest Simeon recognized this moment, and proclaimed this fact, but almost everyone else at that time missed the significance completely. We catholics, with the help of the church fathers and 2000 years of reflection, see this significance immediately, but it was completely missed by many of the people at that time.
So what was the role prophetess Anna in this moment. She also recognized the significance of this moment, and she too is present as witness to this moment. But why, why do we need two prophets at this moment? The venerable Bede helps us better understand. Bede reminds us that this woman was married as a virgin, she lived 7 years as a married woman and then was widowed. And after she was widowed she spent day and night living in the temple, in the service of the Lord, until she was 84 years old. 84 divided by 7 equals 12. These numbers are not random, they represent the days of the week (7) and the perfection of appostolic teaching (12). Futher, we also hear about her parents, who were well known and very good citizens of the jewish community. All of this was to establish that Anna was a very good, holy, and faithful woman that devoted her life to serving the lord, and upholding His law.
Consequently Bede, explains, that while Simeon served as a symbol of the priesthood, a priesthood that was deeply affected by the presence of the Lord deserting the temple. Anna served as a symbol of the church. A church that was widowed when the presence of the Lord left 580 years earlier. A church that was now being reunited with it’s bridegroom, the lord Jesus Christ. A church that would be recreated and rebuilt in the image of Jesus, and would be ultimately established in heaven for all eternity. Anna served as a witness to all of that.
So this passage represents the culmination of everything that the jewish people were waiting for. It is the return of the presence of the lord into this world. It is a new marriage covenenant between the people of this world and the Lord, and it is the restoration of the temple of the lord, in His church, and in us…, the body of Christ. And all of these realities are made manifest in the body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we christians are privledges to participate in this miracle through the sacrament of the Eucharist, the only place on this world where broken humanity thouches (for a moment) the perfect divinity of God in Heaven.
Simeon and Anna got it, many many christians over the years have understood this too. And many are still just now begining to understand. Do you believe this? that Jesus christ is truly, physically present in the holy eucharist, and that he is the fulfilment of all prophecy? If not, why not? Jesus told us, that this fact is true, at the breaking of the bread, at the last supper. He said “That this IS my body, and this IS my blood, and that no one comes to the father except by me” (John, chapter 6).
This is without question, the most important thing that we humans will ever struggle to understand in this world. If you dont understand it now, Humbly ask God to show it to you, and then be open to hear what He has to say. Learning, and ultimately believing this one fact, will forever change your life, and will determine your eternal destiny. It is not a small thing, it is everything! “Search and you find, knock and the door will be opened…” so dont put it off another moment.
