
February 2, 2024 – The Feast of the Presentation [YEAR C]
Fr. Drew Hoffman
Malachi 3:1-4 + Hebrews 2:14-18 + Luke 2:22-40 or 2:22-32
I’m in my early thirties, but spending so much time with college students makes me feel both older and younger than my age. While my vocab is often filled with the slang of a much younger person, most of the time I end up feeling like my dad, like those commercials about people “becoming your parents.” My dad is the best, so it’s not a bad thing, but it’s still surprising. I scream at the Chiefs, I’m annoyed by technology, and I’m always complaining about my lawn…. However, the most noticeable similarity between my dad and I is that we LOVE turning off lights!
When I was a kid, I thought it was so silly that my dad cared about turning off lights in rooms we weren’t using. Light is FREE, right? Of course, it isn’t… every second the lights are on in a room costs money, something that I have learned intensely as a Pastor. I often feel like my dad, walking through our Student Center turning off lights and complaining that we’re lighting the whole neighborhood. Ever since I’ve started paying the bills, it’s become clear to me that light COSTS!
The Feast of the Presentation takes place each year on February 2nd, and this year that means it takes the place of our usual Ordinary Time Sunday celebration. The feast celebrates Mary and Joseph bringing the baby Jesus to the Temple 40 days after His birth, as prescribed in Jewish law. We hear that Jesus will be “a light for revelation to the Gentiles,” leading to the great tradition of Candlemas. Each year on this date, candles, which give light for our Sacred Worship, are blessed in countless Churches around the globe. Until the modern world, this would have been the ONLY way people experienced light once the sun set. As we hear in John’s Gospel, Jesus is the “Light of the World,” and the candles we bless at the Presentation are a sign that Jesus Christ is our only hope for the future.
But the thing about candles is that they burn down and run out. You can watch this week to week with the candles on the Altar or in the votive stand. They provide light, but it isn’t free. The eventually burn down and must be replaced. Just like with electricity, providing light costs something. Jesus Christ brings light to our lives, but it costs Him something to do so. Simeon tells Mary that “This child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted.” His prophecy sets the stage for the truth that Jesus Christ will pay for the light that He brings! Even Mary is told that her role will be painful: “You yourself a sword will pierce.” Just like with candles or lights, in the spiritual life, light costs something. How often I express a desire to bring light and joy to those around me, but am I willing to pay the price? I don’t bring light to the world primarily through having a sunny disposition or by seeing the bright side of things. I do so by being willing to offer myself for the Lord and others. Love that doesn’t give itself for another, that isn’t willing to risk or sacrifice something, isn’t love at all. I must be willing to give something away if I want to bring light to the world.
Light isn’t free, whether it’s in our houses or in our society. Where is the Lord asking me to give and sacrifice for my community and neighbors? When, like Jesus or a candle, I’m willing to give myself away, I bring forth light and hope for those walking in darkness.