BÁNH SỰ SỐNG - CHA BRIAN - THE PRESENTATION OF JESUS
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- Category: 4. Bánh Sự Sống
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Mo NguyenJan 30 at 7:43 PM
THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD
02 February 2020
THE PRESENTATION OF JESUS
AT HOME WITH GOD AND GOD'S PEOPLE: THE PRESENTATION OF JESUS
(Luke 2: 22-40)
A man called ‘Ross’ flies to the USA on business. He tells his wife and children he’ll be back in five weeks’ time. As the days go by the whole family misses him more and more. They can hardly wait to see him again. They make plans for a big party to welcome him home. But on the very day he’s due to fly back to Australia, they get word that he has broken his leg in a skiing accident in Colorado, and is laid up indefinitely in hospital. Now, in addition to their longing to see him again, they are sad and anxious about when that will be.
Then all of a sudden it happens. One evening when the family is feeling particularly down in the dumps and particularly quiet with one another, in walks Ross. One and all, they jump up from their chairs and yell with delight. His wife Jenny speaks for everyone when she hugs her husband and says: 'I can't tell you how marvellous it is to have you here with us again, dear. It's been so long we were beginning to wonder whether we'd ever see you again. You know, Ross, you're our rock. Without you, our home feels empty.'
That little slice of real life is somewhat similar in detail and meaning to the gospel story today of the Presentation to God of the Child Jesus in the Jerusalem Temple, the House of God. It’s a story of coming home, a home-coming which means relief and hope, life and joy for all who experience it.
For Simeon and Anna, those elderly true believers living their lives more forward than backward, who meet and welcome the Christ-child to his Father's house, it has profound meaning. These representatives of the Jewish people, like the Magi before them who represented the gentiles at their epiphany, revel and rejoice in this new manifestation of God. Simeon, guided and enlightened by the Holy Spirit, hugs the baby born to save the whole human race. He praises God for letting him, at the very end of his life, come face to face with the Messiah, the Saviour, the Lord and Light of the world, the one whom he has hoped and longed to see. In sheer delight he cries out to God:
'Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace,
just as you promised;
because my eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared for all the nations to see,
a light to enlighten the pagans
and the glory of your people Israel.'
Anna, an old widow-woman, at home in the Temple night and day, also rejoices in the privilege of meeting there the Saviour of God’s people in the person of the Christ-child. She too begins to praise God. But more than that, she speaks of the greatness, goodness and destiny of this baby, to any others that share her longing for the coming of the Messiah.
To both Simeon and Anna, then, the Presentation means that the Christ-child (the Messiah) has come to meet his God and theirs in God's own house. In turn they themselves are meeting the Christ-child, and in his company they are experiencing relief and peace, light and life, hope and joy. In a word, their meeting with Jesus is an experience, a powerful experience, of salvation.
For all of us who come together today to celebrate the Presentation of the Christ-child, it reminds us of all that Jesus Christ our Saviour has meant to us. We first met him was on that momentous day our parents and godparents led us into the House of God and into the community of Christ to be baptized. We have met him again and again many times since. For example, in the guidance and protection, the goodness and kindness, the love and support, of our parents! In the love and friendship of many other significant others in our lives! In things that have happened to us and in things we have experienced! And especially in all the sacraments that we have received and celebrated, such as Confirmation, Reconciliation, Eucharist, Marriage, Anointing of the Sick, and Holy Orders.
It is precisely because of the length and depth of our relationship with Jesus Christ, that in this Eucharist we will be praising God with these words taken from the Preface of the Feast:
'… we too, go forth, rejoicing to encounter your Salvation ….'
Precisely too because of the length and depth of our relationship with Jesus, we will petition God in words of our Prayer after Holy Communion:
'… may we, going forth to meet the Lord, obtain the gift of eternal life!’
Fr Brian Gleeson
The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHD1VZ8Bxlc
Đức Mẹ & Thánh Giuse dâng CHÚA (02-02) – Thánh Vịnh 23 – ĐÁP CA – Ca sĩ: Hoa Lành: