HOMILY CHRISTMAS OCTAVE DAY 05 – DECEMBER 29th
Walking as Jesus Walked:
Optional Memorial of St. Thomas Becket
(1 Jn 2:3-11; Ps 96; Lk 2:22-35)
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The Word Among Us has an interesting commentary on today’s gospel that with some adaptation will make up this homily.
It begins with the quote, “The parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord,” and continues with the question, “Why did Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the Temple?”
The reason stretches back to the original Passover. God had told the Israelites to put the blood of a lamb on their doorposts so that their firstborn sons would be spared from the plague that was going to strike Egypt. From then on, all firstborn children had to be consecrated to the Lord (Ex 13:2). The offering of a lamb – or a turtledove or pigeon, for the poor – was given to “redeem” the child and spare him or her from evil.
Of course, we may protest that Jesus didn’t need to be redeemed. First of all, he referred to himself as the new temple where God dwelled: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up” (Jn 2:19). As well, he is the lamb of God who redeemed all of us! But true to a lamb’s nature, that redemption was accomplished by submission – submission to his Father’s will, that included being taken to the Temple to be presented to his heavenly Father!
There is a parallel here with the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan. John the Baptist protested it was Jesus who should be baptizing him, but Jesus, again totally sensitive to and wanting only to do the Father’s will, would say, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” That righteousness was the commitment of Jesus, as Son of the Father, to continuously reveal the Father’s true nature as totally humble and faithful to him and to us. So, the consecration of Jesus was more than symbolic. It was the beginning of a life totally given to God, a life dedicated completely to glorifying the Father.
One could say that when Jesus was born among us as a little child, he took on our human nature completely and totally. At his baptism in the Jordan, he took on our sinful human nature and made a commitment to go to the cross to reveal to us the depth of the Father’s love for this wounded world.
So, we are invited to think about the Presentation whenever we attend the Eucharist. As the priest consecrates the Host, think about what is happening –Jesus is being presented to the Father. Joseph and Mary offered Jesus as a humble, helpless infant. But now he appears even more humble and helpless, in the form of a mere wafer of bread. But in a way Mary and Joseph would not have known at that time, we now know how much power, love and grace are contained in that small Host: enough to forgive the sins of the whole world, to reveal the depth of the Father’s love for us, to make every one of us a child of God!
If we have time, we may want to arrive early at Eucharist and pray about what we will offer to God today. It may seem small in comparison to Jesus’ offering of his whole life. But whatever it is, that offering will become something greater than anyone could ever expect. Our gift to the Lord, united in prayer to his own sacrifice, will bring him great glory and bear witness to his name. As Jesus said, a grain of wheat is just a seed, “but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” (Jn 12:24)
The first reading invites us to walk as Jesus walked and to live in his light. That is to be totally obedient to the commandment to love others as Jesus has loved us. Interestingly, St. John tells us this commandment is both old and new. How can that be, we might ask? The commandment is old because it is found in the Old Testament: to love God with our whole being is the Great Shema of Judaism as in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and to love our neighbour as we love ourselves is found in Leviticus 19:18. What is new is that Jesus took that obscure law to “love others as we love ourselves,” and placed it on a par with the Great Shema to love God. That teaching, that to love others is just as important as loving God, and indeed perhaps the best way to love God, is what is new and unique to Jesus.
Turning to the Gospel, we are presented with an elder, Simeon, who at that moment represents the best of Israel, in that he recognizes this child as both the long-awaited Messiah, and the salvation of Israel. His response should have been the response of all the scribes, chief priests, Pharisees – indeed, all the religious leaders of Israel that in fact failed to have the sight of Simeon, and, as we know, did just the opposite – refused to believe, rejected this child, and in end, crucified him to protect their own selfish and sinful ambitions.
The Church today invites us to honour another Simeon-like person, Thomas Becket. Thomas was born in London about 1118 and after studies in various European cities was ordained a deacon in 1154. King Henry II chose his capable friend Thomas as Lord Chancellor in 1155 and appointed him archbishop of Canterbury in 1162. Unfortunately, Thomas and the king did not agree on matters regarding the Church, forcing Thomas into exile in France. Within weeks of his return in 1170, he and the king clashed again. In a fit of rage the king wished aloud to be rid of this “low born priest.” Four of the king’s men took this to be a command and proceeded to Canterbury cathedral where they murdered Thomas. Upon learning of the archbishop’s fate, the king was shocked and all Europe with him. Pope Alexander III declared Thomas a saint in 1173. The movie Becket is a powerful and moving portrayal of the social, political and religious forces at work at that time, as is the play by T. S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral.
The Eucharist is a participation of that presentation of Jesus in the temple. We present to God the gift of his own Son, through these humble gifts of bread and wine.
May our celebration empower us to be like Simeon and Thomas Becket, recognize, Jesus, believe in him as Messiah and our salvation, and walk as he walked by our obedience to his new commandment to love one another as he has loved us.
