Presents and Presence

Gospel: John 1: 1-18

At Christmas we give and receive gifts.  We take joy both in receiving gifts and in the joy of others when they too receive a gift.  There is great sorrow when a gift is given and rejected by another.  In today's Gospel reading we see both this joy and sorrow at the gift of Jesus given to the world: the sorrow of those who rejected his presence, and the joy of those who receive the gift and through it become children of God and heirs of heaven.

Jesus came to dwell among us.  He went about from place to place healing people of their infirmities, liberating them from the demons that oppress them, and nourishing them at table.  He ate with sinners, those who were his opponents, even those who would deny and betray him.  He rejected violence, ordering his followers to put away the sword, and rebuking those who would call down fire upon a town that rejected them.  We are simply to depart and shake the dust from our feet when rejected by one town.

For all this we executed Jesus in the most cruel way known to humanity.  We rejected his present and sought to blot out his presence.  Yet, both his presence and the present he offers remains.  We still have the ability to become children of God by following his example in our lives.  For it is to the peacemakers that the title children of God is given, and it is to the ministry of peace and reconciliation that we are called as followers of the Lord Jesus.  Today is a day to accept his presents and his presence. 

A Widow's Witness

Gospel: Luke 2: 36-40

We began Luke's Gospel with the stories of Elizabeth and Mary, two women who play pivotal roles in the drama of salvation history by accepting the roles offered to them in being the mother of John the Baptist and Jesus respectively.  They did so in spite of the skepticism of the men in their lives and the social difficulties that may arise with such undertakings.  Today we have a bookend at the end of the infancy stories with the arrival of Anna the prophetess. 

Anna is a remarkable woman.  She was married only seven years before her husband died, at which point she spent the remainder of her years a widow, constantly in the Temple area fasting and praying.  She likely sought the support of others here as well, picking up odd jobs and receiving alms as it seems clear she had no sons or family to support her.  She, like Simeon and others, await the coming Messiah, and she is rewarded by actually being one of the first to meet him as an infant.

Anna completes the bookend of women who form the core of the earthly origins of Jesus' life.  She forms a second sort of bookend, being the last in a line of marginalized people to whom the Messiah comes - Mary, a simple village woman; the shepherds; the Magi; and now a widow.  Jesus' mission to the poor, lowly, outcast, and marginalized all find foreshadowing in his infancy.  It is a mission to which we are called each day as his followers. 

Seeing the Salvation

Gospel: Luke 2: 22-35

At the end of each day the Church has in her official prayer this song of Simeon that forms the core of our Gospel text today.  Simeon was an old man who waited for the coming of the Lord in his life.  He sat day and night in the Temple awaiting this coming, and when it finally arrived Simeon gave thanks, and stated that he was now ready to depart this mortal coil, for all that he waited for had come to him and he is now truly at peace.

We might well consider in our own life to incorporate this prayer at the end of our days and reflect each day on the various ways the Lord has come to us, where we have encountered God in the midst of the world.  It is well for us to give thanks for those moments.  At the same time, this Gospel scene has Mary come to the Temple in order to give thanks for the birth of her child, providing the offering of the poor as a thanksgiving sacrifice for the privilege of bearing God to the world.

We too have the opportunity each day to bring forth God to the world through acts of love and mercy, of compassion and kindness.  Each day we have the opportunity to reflect on the ways that we have - and have not - done so in our daily living.  We then have the opportunity to cleanse ourselves in repentance for those times we failed, and also to give thanks for the times we did succeed in bringing God to others in deeds of loving kindness.