4

PRESENTATION

Present!

It’s easy to say “Present,”
as we did a thousand times as kids in school”,
but to be really present, now that is difficult.

And Mary and Joseph
brought the baby to the temple
to present him to the Lord.

They walked through the crowd,
up the steps, past the money changers,
till they came to the tables
of those who were selling doves.
Some of the buyers, the sellers,
the people on the lines,
stopped for a brief moment,
stopped to smile into the face of this baby boy.
and then it was back to business as usual
here in the temple of the Lord.
Did these people know
that this was the one,
this was the Son,
who would one day rise in anger
to turn over these very tables,
to drive them and their children,
along with the money changers
out of the temple area?

Did these people forget
that this was the house of God,
that this was a house of prayer?

Then Mary and Joseph walked deep
into the darkness of the temple,
carrying their son, a candle,
the Light of the world.

They walked past Pharisees and Publicans in prayer.
They walked to the place
where they could offer their poor sacrifice:
two small birds, in thanksgiving to the Lord
for all their blessings.
Being poor,
this is all that they could offer.
Being rich,
they came to offer up the Lamb of God
who takes away the sins of the world.

Suddenly, in the middle of the ceremony
an old man arrives in the temple.
His eyes are rushing, searching,
his mouth is muttering,
his legs are moving as fast as possible
trying go locate the child.
Simeon knew that the Spring
he had been waiting for
had finally arrived in the winter of his life.

“Look! There is the Lamb of God
who takes away the sins of the world.
Look there is the child.
There is the One!”
He stands there and bursts into prayer,
thanking God that his long wait is finally over.

“Enough!” he says in an old man’s prayer.
“God you can now take me.
What more is there in life for me to see?
Here is the Light of the world.
Here is the Light
that will be seen by the Gentiles;
here is the Glory of Israel.”

He stops speaking.

Silence.

Then Simeon looks into Mary’s eyes,
into Mary’s heart.
Slowly, he begins to tell her
the good news and the bad,
the sweet and the sour stories
of everyone’s life.

“This child is to be part
of the joyful and sorrowful mysteries of your life,
and everyone’s life from now on.”

“A sword will pierce your heart,
so that the thoughts of all hearts will be revealed.”

And after Simeon came Anna.
It reminded Mary of the stable of Bethlehem,
the arrival first of the shepherds
and of the wise men.
Anna was one of those old women
you find in every temple.
Age had bent her like an anchor,
a sign of hope.
She came to Mary and Joseph;
she came with good news only.

“This child,”
putting her hand on the baby’s heard,
“is destined to deliver Israel.”

With that Mary and Joseph left the temple
and thought about these predictions
all the way back to Galilee and beyond.
And as Mary watched her son grow
in size and strength,
in wisdom and grace,
she turned all these thing
over and over again in her mind.