The presentation in the temple
This is our last column for 2017 and quite aptly it is the Feast of the Holy Family. Christmas is always celebrated with family and for me; it was a great Christmas because for the first time the Avila Family, including the branch of my father Atty. Jesus and Ascension Avila was complete with all our grandchildren. Call it a rare occasion but it made this Christmas special. Family is, after all, a creation of God which Satan wants to destroy through drugs and other evils.
Sister Lucia, the surviving member of the Fatima children, wrote: "The final battle between the Lord and the reign of Satan will be about marriage and the family, because anyone who operates for the sanctity of marriage and the family will always be contended and opposed in every way because this is the decisive issue. However Our Lady has already crushed its head." This is why issues like same-sex marriage have become acceptable today because it is a marriage that would not produce any children. Our gospel reading today comes from Luke 2:22-40 about the Presentation in the Temple.
***
22 When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord"), 24 and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. 27 Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
29 "Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel." 33 And the child's father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.
34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, "This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed 35 so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed-and a sword will pierce your own soul too."
36 There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. 39 When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40 The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him."
***
The Blessed Virgin Mary conceived our Lord Jesus Christ when the Angel Gabriel gave her the message of God that she would bear a Son and the Holy Spirit overshadowed her, thus the Lord was born in a divine way. She didn't need to comply with the purification laws of the Jews, but she acceded.
This gospel is also a prophesy of what kind of child Jesus would become when Simeon said, "This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed 35 so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed-and a sword will pierce your own soul too."
***
For email responses to this article, write to [email protected] or [email protected]. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.
- Latest
