Redde Altissimo Vota Tua[1]
Homily for the Solemn Feast of the Presentation
of the Lord
Sunday, February 2nd, 2014
Parish of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha (Union Street)
Rev. Michael Taylor
And I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me.
And though I live now in the flesh, I live in the faith of the Son of
God,
who loved me, and delivered himself for me.[2]
The feast of
the presentation of the Lord is a powerful feast. There are so many different
things to contemplate in this feast. First, we need to talk about the temple
and the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was the most sacred vessel to the people
of Israel. The ark of the covenant held the ten commandments which the Lord God
had carved into stone in the presence of Moses when Moses had gone up the
mountain for forty days and forty nights.[3]
These stone tablets were placed within a tabernacle, on which were carved two
golden cherubim,[4]
for just as the cherubim sat in the presence of God in heaven, so these would
stand in the presence of God amidst his people.
The
tabernacle could only be held by the priests, men who were of the tribe of
Levi. It was the Ark of the Covenant that split the waters of the river Jordan,[5]
allowing the people of Israel to pass into the Promised Land after their forty
years in the wilderness. It was the Ark of the Covenant that went before the
people of Israel when they went to conquer the walls of Jericho.[6]
There was no temple for the Ark originally, rather, it was a specially designed
tent that served to shelter the Ark from the elements. It was in that tent
where the young Samuel would hear the voice of God calling him.[7]
It was so holy that to even touch the wooden beams used to carry it, would
cause death. There is the story of King David trying to bring the ark of the
covenant into the city of Jerusalem, when one of the soldiers, named Uz’zah,
escorting it, when reaching out to steady it, was struck dead.[8]
They figured God must be a bit touchy, so they left the Ark in the plains of Kiryat
Ye’arim, about eleven to twelve miles from Jerusalem.
It would be left to King Solomon, son of
David, to build an actual temple for the Ark of the Covenant around the year
957 BC. When the Babylonians captured Jerusalem around the year 597 BC they
looted the temple, destroyed it, and the Ark of the Covenant was lost forever.
A second temple would be built around 513 by Nehemiah but it lacked the Ark of
the Covenant. So you have to understand that the people of Israel, when Herod
built the third temple, felt this emptiness, this feeling that the sign of the
covenant had been lost because of their idolatry. The prophets though foretold
a time when a descendent of David would reestablish God’s presence, as the
prophet Ezekiel foretold; I [the Lord]
will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them;
he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I the Lord, will be their God,
and my servant David shall be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken. I will
make with them a covenant of peace...[9]
So now imagine all the things that are unfolding.
First, let us take a step back from today’s feast. Tradition held that the Mary
was brought up in Jerusalem, which is how she would have first come to know
Zechariah and Elizabeth who lived in the nearby town of Ein Kerem. The
tradition holds that Mary’s parents, Anne and Ioachim had been so grateful to
be given a child in their old age, that they dedicated Mary to service at the
temple. As the tradition speculates, Zechariah, showed his cousin Mary around
the temple. So now remember the Ark of the Covenant had been lost, but here is
the new ark of the covenant, the one to whom the angel of the Lord will one day
announce that she is to carry the Son of the Most High within her. The Ark of
the Covenant has returned to the temple! And now today, the new Ark of the
Covenant returns to the temple carrying within her arms the Word of God made
flesh. Can you now see why Simeon cried out, Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, accordint to thy word in
peace; because my eyes have seen the salvation, which thou hast prepared before
the face of all peoples; a light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the
glory of thy people Israel? [10]
Still, what does it mean that Mary and
Joseph bring Jesus to the temple? First, I bring to your attention this
consideration; you know how some people will say “I can just talk to God at
home, why do I have to go to Church?” Well, Mary and Joseph could literally and
in every sense of the term, talk to God at home and they still went to the
temple. Why? Because responsibility and community. First responsibility. What
does it mean to be dedicated to God? Pope Francis the other day mentioned,
“Christ needs disciples not admirers.” What a profound statement. It’s easy to
admire Christ. There are many teachings that are easily admirable. Do unto others as you would have them do
unto you; [11]
blessed are the peacemakers, for they are the children of God; [12]
and The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he hath anointed me to preach good news to the poor.[13]
It’s easy to admire the miracles and healings that Jesus carried out. Yet
admiring Christ is not what Jesus calls us to do. He calls us to be his
disciples, and that means accepting the hard things too; be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect; [14]
if you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and
you will have treasure in heaven- and then come follow me; [15]
if any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and
children, and brethren, and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be my
disciple. [16]
Indeed we are told that he that
hateth his life in this world, keepeth it unto life eternal [17]
and if any man will follow me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.[18]
Now let’s talk about community. In Exodus,
it tells that each child must be dedicated to the Lord,[19]
and in Deuteronomy we read the great Shema Prayer, Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole
strength. And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart;
and thy shalt tell them to thy children, and thou shalt meditate upon them
sitting in thy house, and walking on thy journey, sleeping and rising.[20]
So you see, being dedicated was not just an act of faith, it was a presenting
of a child to the people of Israel. It’s one of the reasons that we baptize
infants, because in addition to the forgiveness of sins,[21]
the remission of punishment and the creation of the child of God,[22]
a child is also being brought into the People of God,[23]
which is the Church. As the Catechism of
the Catholic Church says: “Baptism is the sacrament of faith.[24]
But the faith needs the community of believers. It is only within the faith of
the Church that each of the faithful can believe. The faith required for
Baptism is not a perfect and mature faith, but a beginning that is called to
develop. The catechumen or the godparent is asked; ‘What do you ask of God’s
Church?’ the response is ‘faith!’” [25]
So when we talk about the community of
believers, we are talking about the Church. To quote Pope Francis again,
because he’s awesome, just the other day in his homily he stated, “It is an
absurd dichotomy to love Christ without the Church; to listen to Christ, but
not the Church.” [26]
Now this at first seems a startling statement. Yet when we think about it, it
makes perfect sense. It was Holy Mother Church which gathered the scriptures
into the Bible. It was Holy Mother Church who through the preaching of the
Apostles and their successors, the Bishops, who preached the gospel of Christ
from the first days. It is the Church who throughout the ages has administered
the Sacraments of Christ; baptism, anointing of the sick, Eucharist,
Confession. We would not know of Christ were it not for the community of
believers, the Church. When we say “I’m Catholic, but I disagree with this” or “I’m
Catholic but I think that this teaching needs to change” you are being an
admirer of Christ, not a disciple. Pope Francis said, “A person who is not
humble cannot hear along with the Church. They hear only what she likes, what
he likes.” [27]
Let us pray for humility so that we might be responsible to our community, and
in so doing, can help bring the Light of Christ into the world.
[1] Psalm 49(50).14: Pay thy vows to the Most High
[2] Galatians 2.20
[3] cf. Deuteronomy 10.2: And I [the Lord] will write on
the tables the words that were in them, which thou brokest [when Moses had
discovered the people of Israel worshipping the golden calf], and thou shalt
put them in the ark.
[4] cf. Exodus 25.18-22
[5] cf. Joshua 3.14-17
[6] cf. Joshua 6.4
[7] I Samuel 3.3ff
[8] II Samuel 6.6-7
[9] Ezekiel 34.23-25a
[10] Luke 2.29-32
[11] Matthew 7.12
[12] Matthew 5.9
[13] Luke 4.18
[14] Matthew 5.48
[15] Matthew 19.21
[16] Luke 14.26
[17] John 12.25
[18] Mark 8.34
[19] Exodus 13.1-2
[20] Deuteronomy 6.4-7
[21] Catechism of
the Catholic Church §§1263-1264
[22] Catechism of
the Catholic Church §§1265-1266
[23] Catechism of
the Catholic Church §§1267-1270
[24] cf. Mark 16.16
[25] Catechism of
the Catholic Church §1253
[26] Homily for 30JAN2014. http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/pope-francis-a-christian-without-the-church-is-an-absurd-dichotomy/
[27] Ibid.
