Homily: Feast Of The Presentation Of Our Lord
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Today commemorates the Presentation of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple and the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Both events were required by the laws of Moses. Mosaic Law declared that 40 days after the birth of a newborn child, he had to be dedicated to God in the temple. The Law also required that a woman who had given birth to a male child had to be purified. That is to say, she had to wait for 40 days before presenting herself in the temple, and during these 40 days, she had to avoid social activity and spend time in prayer and meditation.Β
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These events are observed by the Church on February 2. This feast is also called the Feast of Candlemas in some countries because candles are sometimes blessed on this day.
In the Gospel, we come across two people who played an important role in the life of Jesus. They are Simeon and Anna. Very little is known about them historically, but according to scholars, Simeon was a "just and devout" man of Jerusalem who met Mary, Joseph, and the child as they entered the temple to fulfill the requisites of the law of Moses. He had been visited by the Holy Spirit and told that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. On taking Jesus in his arms, he uttered a prayer which has the Latin name of 'Nunc Dimittis', now used as a prayer by many Christians.γHe also prophesied regarding the agonies that Jesus and his Mother would encounter.Β
Simeon is revered as a saint not only in the Roman Catholic Church but also in the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox traditions. Some scholars believe that he was a priest of the temple of Jerusalem, and others believe that his real name was Shimon Ben Hillel, who at that time was the High Priest of the temple.
The prophetess Anna is one of the Bible's most unusual women. The mother of the Virgin Mary was also called Anna, but she was a different person. She was one of 6 pious Israelites related to the miraculous births of John the Baptist and Jesus, the others being Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph, and Simeon.
Simeon and Anna arrived at the temple separately, though both were directed by God. Simeon arrived first at the temple, and St. Luke records more of his encounter with Jesus. It is interesting to note that Simeon was the one who prophesied, though Anna is the one called a prophetess. Anna married at a very young age and died as a widow after many years. Aside from the Blessed Virgin Mary, she was the first woman who publicly declared that Jesus was the Messiah and God. Also, apart from the shepherds who worshiped Jesus at his birth and the Magi who came from the East, Anna and Simeon rank among the earliest disciples of Jesus.
St. John de Brito (1647-1693) was one of the earliest Jesuit missionaries to India, who adopted elements of the local cultures in his evangelization. He is regarded as a pioneer of Inculturation, and he was eventually martyred because of his success and his firm refusal to accept honors and security. He preached in the Southern Indian state of Tamilnadu, and lived as an Indian ascetic. He made a bold effort to establish an Indian Catholic Church, which was free of European cultural control. He studied the local dialects, dressed like the local people, and lived like a local ascetic, abstaining from every kind of meat and wine. He tried to teach the Catholic faith in categories and concepts, that would make sense to the common people around him. This method was begun by Robert de Nobili, who was an Italian Jesuit who also worked in India.Β
St. John de Brito was a companion and childhood playmate of King Pedro II of Portugal. One day when he returned to Portugal on a visit, the King begged him to remain in Europe and tutor his sons. St. John however felt that the people of India needed him more, so he decided to return to Tamilnadu. On a certain occasion, however, he unfortunately got involved in some political issues in the city where he lived, and as a consequence of this, he was martyred. His feast is celebrated on the fourth of February.
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by Fr. Cyril Veliath, SJ
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