29 January 2025
This Sunday is the fortieth day after Christmas, and according to the Gospel of Saint Luke, it was when Mary and Jesus brought the infant Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem. It is there that Simeon and Anna greet the Christ Child with joy, for the Messiah has entered the Temple. The Kingdom of God has arrived.
Unlike the myriad of lambs that were routinely slaughtered in the Temple for sacrifice, this Lamb named Jesus will be the one, supreme, eternal, and sufficient sacrifice, yet his altar will not be within the sacred walls of the Temple, but rather it shall be the cross - an instrument reserved for criminals, employed by Roman Gentiles rather than pious Jews. Jesus, the spotless Lamb, shall die a miserable death upon a secular monstrosity that will become the symbol of eternal life and redemption. When Simeon sang his song about Jesus being the light to enlighten the Gentiles, who knew the path would move through the cross? As Simeon predicted the piercing of Mary’s heart, who knew that pain and death was required for the true light to shine?
Humans are often poor when it comes to sacrifice. In fact, we are trained by society to avoid sacrifice. We are always looking for the easiest, quickest, and least painful ways to perform our work, obligations, and requirements, because we try endlessly to achieve perfect bliss now. Humanity’s hope for artificial intelligence demonstrates this perfectly. Why do the work when it can be done for us, and we can sit back and relax, gaining eternal benefits without any real sacrifice of our own?
But in Simeon and Anna we see a life of sacrifice, waiting for the appearance of the Messiah. They were old - so old that we might label them as ripe. They spent their whole life waiting, and finally the Messiah appeared. Patience is hard work, as is keeping vigil while adoring the true God. They had spent so much time waiting and being patient, that such waiting was their new mode of enjoying life. In other words, their discipline brought about authentic and true faith.
We may never reach the excellent and patient faith of Simeon and Anna, but we can strive to put our faith in God first. Such Christian excellence and authenticity means never missing Sunday Mass, and it means living out our faith throughout each week. It is why we do not merely fit or squeeze Sunday worship into our schedules, but we gladly miss other events to worship faithfully. After all, what else do we need to do on the Lord’s Day? Is not the Christian the happiest when hearing the scriptures proclaimed, and when the bread and wine is being blessed? Is not this the enthusiasm of modern-day Simeons and Annas?
We are reminded that as Christians we do not worship football games, and that sports, brunches, and concerts fail to save our souls. We do not need Sundays off for rest and relaxation, for worship and fellowship is our true rest and relaxation. The truth is that the more we miss adoring Christ, the more meaningless or haphazard our lives become. Such absence from the community of God increases fatigue rather than an energized life in Jesus Christ.
Sacrifice is the language of Christianity, and without the currency of sacrifice there cannot be true joy and meaning. Without the cross, Easter never arises. Simeon and Anna knew that if they were to experience the advent of the Messiah, they had to worship and keep vigil. Nothing has changed for us today. If we want the Lord of Life to come into our lives, we must engage the disciplines, practices, and sacrifices that authentic faith entails.
But alas, I am preaching to the choir, for so many of you keep vigil faithfully for Christ, and you too have experienced the coming of the Messiah in his Temple. You have seen the Lord, whether in Scripture, the Sacraments, or each other. You have been resurrected by Jesus Christ, and like Simeon and Anna, he shall always be first in your lives.
Father Paul Lillie +
