I Introduce to you, Jesus!

Today we celebrate the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. It has now been forty days since Christmas and by Jewish law it is time for Jesus to be brought to the temple for purification. At this time too, Mary and Joseph make a sacrifice and get a blessing from the prophets in the temple.  Interestingly, we hear of Anna, one of the few woman mentioned in the New Testament, being called a prophetess, the only woman in the New Testament who is designated as such. She stayed in the temple, constantly in prayer and fasting and praising God. Thus, People would have known who she was. She would have been recognized as that pious woman living in the temple. Upon seeing Jesus and his parents Anna  began to praise God and  “speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.” In the entire history of salvation, we hear of a woman as the first person who had an encounter with Christ and who  preached Christ to the crowds. Anna, the prophetess, is truly  the first disciple.

As we gather as a community of faith to celebrate the liturgy of the Word and Eucharist, we stand within the presence of the Lord who makes himself known to us through the tables of the word and sacrament. We gather to be fed by the words from the mouth of God, and to feed our hungry souls with the true Christ. As Catholics, this is essential to who we are, essential to what we believe. Christ is living and present among us every time we gather for this prayer of worship.

The world outside these four walls is becoming more and more unaware of the truth of our Lord. Their lacks in todays society an authentic encounter with the real and living Lord. Society is hungry for something transcendent, something more than what material gains can give. As Catholics we have the answer. We have the author of creation, the author of our desires, wants, and needs. With our very eyes we have seen our salvation, the light of the revelation for the gentiles and the sword of authentic faith has pierced our own soul, to borrow the words of Simeon. We cannot keep our salvation, the author of life, trapped within these walls. The very call of God is one that is missionary in nature. It is a call that is always reaching beyond itself an reaching to every area of our personal lives and of society at large. Anytime and anywhere that is outside the four walls of the church is what we call ‘mission territory.’ There exists no place where the words of God should not reach.

May we come on this feast of the presentation of the Lord, to imitate the prophet Anna, and reintroduce the Lord, the author of our salvation, to the world. May we come, inspired by our weekly, or daily encounter with the Lord to proclaim him to the nations. May we introduce to this world Jesus.