Glory to Jesus Christ!  Glory forever!

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Today, the Holy Child conceived by the Holy Spirit and His most holy, most pure, most blessed and glorious Lady Theotokos and ever-Virgin Mother come to the Temple according to the Law to be churched (Ex. 12:51-13:16; Lv. 12:1-8; Nm. 8:16-17).  He Who gave the Law now fulfills the same by His obedience.  Apart from the ancient God-receiver named Simeon and the consecrated elderly widow named Anna, I have often wondered just how much, if any, publicity the Holy Family with their most extraordinary Child received.  My guess is, despite His eternal uniqueness, not much, if any.  In fulfillment of the prophetic Word, the Lord comes suddenly to His Temple (Ma. 3:1), but He does so without fanfare, without the crowds that will eventually swarm around Him on that day of His triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  Solomon, in his Book of Wisdom, notices what another has called “the noiseless course of God’s Providence” (John Henry Newman).  Solomon writes, “For while all things were in quiet silence, and that night was in the midst of her swift course, Thine Almighty Word leaped from Heaven out of Thy royal throne . . . .” (WS 18:14-15).  God, the Lord and Creator, Who brought into existence all things out of non-existence, sneaks ever so quietly into His world to behold His world, to be among His people, to work out His divine will, just like the stories of kings who have embarked on a tour of their kingdoms incognito, dressed like beggars and strangers, according to their own reasons in order to do good for their people. 

The Church remembers, beloved, how on that “silent night, holy night” of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ’s Nativity According to the Flesh, the heavens were astir with innumerable hosts of angels hymning the Birth of the Newborn King, and yet the only ones let in on the divine Mystery were some lowly shepherds keeping watch over their flocks.  And the little town of Bethlehem, at the very epicenter of the Messianic prophecy, nonetheless slept on despite the divine and historic revelation unfolding in her streets (Lk. 2:1-20).  And, if it had not been for the Magi stopping by the royal palace, this divine and holy Child would have escaped even the notice of the wicked Herod (Mt. 2:1-12).  God is very much like leaven and mustard seed, spoken of by our Lord in His parables (Mt. 13:31-33; Mk. 4:30-32; Lk. 13:18-21).  Hidden, quiet, nearly indetectable, yet powerfully working.  This is our God Who comes to His Temple this morning.  He does His work of salvation and sanctification in hidden, seemingly imperceptible ways to us, despite being out in the open, so often right in front of us! 

Beloved, the Meeting or Presentation of Our Lord is one of the 12 Great Feasts of Holy Orthodoxy, each a marker in the life of our Lord, each supporting this one saving reality and Truth: that the Son of God – one of the Holy Trinity – “for us men and for our salvation came down from Heaven” (Nicene Creed).  Even so seemingly an insignificant event marked by this Feast is nevertheless of tremendous import leading ultimately to the Cross and Empty Tomb.  This Child, beloved, born of the most holy Theotokos and carried in the arms of the most venerable God-receiver and proclaimed by the most reverent Prophetess is salvation hymned by Simeon.  This Jesus in very flesh – “the Son of God, the Only-begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages: Light of Light, true God of true God; begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father” (Nicene Creed) – has been sent by the Father and given to us as the Covenant par excellence (Is. 42:6; 49:6).  It is this very Covenant God renews with us in the very Flesh of His Son and His most precious Blood at each and every Divine Liturgy (Mt. 26:26-29; Mk. 14:22-25; Lk. 22:19-20; Jn. 6:26-58)!  And so, this Jesus, foretold from the foundation of the world (1 Pe. 1:18-21; Rv. 13:8),

took bread in His holy, most pure, and blameless hands, and when He had given thanks, and blessed it, and hallowed it, and broken it, He gave it . . ., saying: ‘Take, eat: this is My Body which is broken for you, for the remission of sins.’  And likewise . . . the cup, saying:  ‘Drink of it, all of you: this is My Blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for you and for many, for the remission of sins’ (Anaphora).

In something so simple and seemingly insignificant as bread and wine, God Himself is truly present to save and to sanctify all those humble souls prepared to receive “the consolation of Israel,” who look for redemption in Jerusalem, that is to say, in all the saving events of our Lord’s Great and Holy Passion.  Here, in this Child, is “’the light to the Gentiles, and the glory of . . . Israel,’” and only those who are prepared, like the aged Simeon and the elderly Anna, can receive Him, can see Him, can know Him as He is.  Why?  Because “’God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble’” (Pr. 3:34).  Interestingly enough, beloved, St. Peter quotes this Proverb in the context of younger people learning to submit to their elders (such as Simeon and Anna who are icons of ancient Wisdom and the Holy Tradition).  The soon to be martyred Apostle says,

‘All of you [both young and old, whether according to chronological age or level of spiritual maturity in the Faith] be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble’ (1 Pe. 5:5).

          This Jesus, then, is the fullness of grace – the grace of God – God Himself incarnate.  He is given to all who look for Him, who yearn for Him in the depths of sin, who are prepared with humility of soul and contrition of heart to receive Him (Ps. 33 [34]:18; Is. 57:15).  To these, the Evangelist and Theologian John assures us, He gives “power to become the sons of God,” who are born of God (Jn. 1:10-13).  “’Today, salvation [comes] to this House’” (Lk. 19:1-10)!  Are you prepared?

Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, especially those of Sts. Simeon the God-receiver and the Prophetess Anna, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.  Amen.

Glory to Jesus Christ!  Glory forever!

VIGIL PROPERS:                                      PROPERS:

Ex. 12:51-13:16; Lv. 12:1-8; Nm. 8:16-17                Hb. 7:7-17

Is. 6:1-12                                                                     Lk. 2:22-40

Is. 19:1-5, 12, 16, 19-21