Right here, right now (Sunday homily)

Today’s feast is celebrated every year, 
but it only falls on Sunday every once in a while. 
The formal name is the “Presentation of the Lord”;
Another name is “Candlemas,” because of the candles of course.

But why candles?
On one level it’s kind of obvious: 
Jesus comes to the temple, and he is the Light of the World.

But let’s you and I drill down on that, shall we?

When Jesus was born, he looked like any other baby.
When the Apostles met him, they encountered a man like them.
Jesus ate and drank, he worked and got tired and had to rest.

Then, on one occasion, 
Jesus took Peter, James and John up a mountain, 
and he was, quote, “transfigured” before their eyes.
The Gospels say that he was brilliantly bright.
The apostles fell to the ground; 
maybe the sight scorched their eyes?

In other words, I’d like to suggest that in that moment,
they saw, as much as human eyes could see, 
what it really means to say Jesus is “the Light of the World.”
 
You and I don’t dare stare at the sun – it sears our eyes.
And yet Jesus, our Lord, is vastly more luminous,
more full of power and fire!
All the suns and stars and galaxies are but a little candle next to him!

When we say, “a Light for revelation” came into the temple…
Realize how intense and awesome that Light truly was!
If the sun in our sky could somehow enter this church,
maybe that gives a sense of it.

So we hold these candles, 
and they don’t seem like much compared to Jesus’ Light.
But that’s the way we are as sinful human beings.
These little candles are an apt symbol of what we bring:
Only a little bit; only a small sacrifice;
and we’re tempted to think, it doesn’t matter.

But in the temple that day, that’s what nearly everyone  
thought about Joseph, Mary and Jesus! They didn’t matter.
Only two people – Simeon and Anna – grasped the truth.

Part of that truth is that when Jesus’ infinite light joins ours,
we take on his brightness; you and I cannot dim his glory. 
Fear not!

This is as good a time as any to remind you that it’s time 
to make our own commitments to the Catholic Ministries Appeal.
By now you should have gotten a mailing about it.
 
You know the projects it pays for:
Caring for our retired priests;
Caring for the poor and needy, including in Shelby County;
Supporting a Catholic presence in prisons, hospitals and colleges;
Supporting our seminary and our vocations programs, and more.

There are cards and envelopes in the pews, if you need one.
Your pledge, like your candle, may not seem like much,
But united to Christ and all our other candles, it is a bright light!

There’s something else here, and it has to do with Jesus’ priesthood.
The first reading describes the Lord coming to purify the temple, 
and to offer a pure, all-powerful sacrifice worthy of God.

(At 9 am Mass, I inserted an explanation about offering Mass ad orientem, which we do at this Mass, explaining that the temple's great door faced east, hence when the Lord Jesus came to the temple, he entered from the east. Thus, when we offer Mass, we face "spiritual east," not necessarily geographic east, in hope of the Lord coming to us. We all face the Lord; "you are not my hope, that's why I don't face you; and I'm not your hope; we face together toward the Lord.")

This is a foreshadowing of what would happen on Good Friday;
And what is made present in every single Mass.

It is not too strong to say that right here, right now, we are there.
Every single Mass, you and I are there, 
with Jesus, offering himself as the Lamb of God.

So: are you and I like most people in that temple that day,
Ho-hum, nothing special?
Or, are do we see as Simeon and Anna, recognizing the Lord is here?

I know, you might be frustrated because you try, 
yet with kids and diaper bags and the cares of daily life,  
it seems impossible to do more than to “get through” Mass.

If that’s you; if you’re harried and hassled, my word for you is this:
Just be here, and trust Him.
His light is here, and he will shine on you, in you, and it’ll happen.
Not in a day; not on our timetable; but in his time.
Present yourself to the Lord and let him accept that offering.
But you’ll be a glorious saint one day. He’ll do it, not you.

Or, maybe you’re here, and you think, boring!
I don’t like the music; this homily is no good!
I don’t like the people sitting around me…
My answer is: you’re right! 

Six years ago, right about this time, I was in the Holy Land,
and I visited the very places where Jesus was crucified,
and nearby, the tomb where his dead body was placed,
and then on the third day, where He rose from the dead.
I was there! I kissed the stone on which he lay,
and we also had Holy Mass there – the stone was the altar!

As far as Mass goes, on this side of heaven, that’s as good as it gets.
Still, you know what? You visit a place like that, 
and you can actually be disappointed, because it’s so…human.
People were coming and going, I was trying not to trip or hit my head;
It was a lot of pushing and rushing, and then we headed on.

However: I kept reeling myself back in,
Reminding myself of where I was, and what happened there.
In other words, it’s a choice.
A good attitude, a bad attitude; to be awed or to be cynical:
it’s a choice we make.
 
I will never forget that trip to the Holy Land, and yet:
Right here, right now, it’s every bit as real and holy,
because the Light of the World, Jesus our High Priest,
Comes here at every single Mass and fills this temple with his glory.

And whether that light fills the temple of your life is up to you.