Homily

At the beginning of his narration, the evangelist Luke refers to the Law of Moses according to which the mother had to present her firstborn child in the temple forty days after his birth. And, to perform the ceremony of purification, she had to offer up a lamb or a pair of doves in sacrifice. The consecration of the firstborn (as is done with every first fruit) reminded all of the people of Israel of God’s primacy over life and all of creation. Mary and Joseph did all that was prescribed, and, as they were poor, they did not bring a lamb for the sacrifice but just a pair of doves; in fact, they were offering the "true Lamb" for the salvation of the world.
The Feast of the Presentation is one of the feasts - few - celebrated by both the Western and Eastern Churches. The celebration (once called the "solemn encounter") was already in place in the first centuries in Jerusalem. A procession through the city streets commemorated the Holy Family’s journey from Bethlehem to Jerusalem with the newborn baby Jesus. Still today the holy liturgy preserves the procession, to which during the tenth century, was added the benediction of the candles, which gave the festival the popular name of "Candlemas." The light that we hand to each other during the liturgy unites us to Simeon and Anna who welcome the infant. The child will be a "light to the nations," Simeon sings, adopting the words from the prophet Isaiah in chapters forty-two and forty-nine on the Servant of the Lord.
Saint Bernard, in an evocative homily written for this feast day, exclaimed: "Today the Virgin Mother introduces the Lord of the temple in the temple of the Lord, and Joseph presents to the Lord not his son, but the Son beloved by the Lord, in whom He was most pleased. The righteous recognized the one for whom he was waiting; the widow Anna exalted him with her praises. These four figures celebrated for the first time today’s procession... Let us not marvel that this procession was small, since he who was received there had made himself small."
Jesus, only a small, forty day old infant, is taken to Jerusalem for the first time. His first journey already prefigures his last. He will return to the holy city at the end of his life, no longer offered in the temple or placed in the arms of Simeon; instead, he will be brought outside the city walls, and his arms will be nailed to the cross. Today Simeon takes the child in his arms and squeezes him affectionately, but the wise man’s words foretell the infant’s future: "destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed," and looking at the mother—almost prefiguring the scene at the cross—adds: "and a sword will pierce your own soul too."
The prophecy of Malachi was realized in that child: "The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight - indeed, he is coming... For he is like the refiner’s fire and like fuller’s soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver" (Mal 3:1-3). Simeon is a righteous man fearful of God, who was "looking forward to" the consolation of Israel, he feels the warmth of the fire he was about to receive and: "guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple ... and took the child in his arms and praised God." As Mary and Joseph had first done, now Simeon does by "taking the infant," and he is filled with a boundless consolation that gives rise in his heart to one of the most beautiful prayers: "Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace ... for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles."
Simeon and the prophetess Anna were elderly (the Gospel specifies her age, eighty-four). They represent Israel and all of humanity that wait for "redemption," but we can also see in them all peoples advanced in age, the elderly. And so, Simeon and Anna exemplify the beauty of old age. In society we easily see elders, men and women, who are sad and resigned to their future; their only consolation, when possible, is to feel nostalgia for their now distant youth. The Gospel today loudly affirms—and it is right to yell out in our societies that are particularly cruel toward the elders—that old age is not a failure, a disgrace, or a misfortune, a time that we have to suffer rather than a time to live with hope. Simeon and Anna seem to step out from the crowded chorus of sad and anguished people to proclaim to all: it is beautiful to be elderly! The elder years can be fully lived with hope and joy. Simeon and Anna’s song is inconceivable and incomprehensible in a society where only strength and wealth count, though precisely from this mentality erupts the violence and cruelty of life.
Today, Simeon and Anna come to meet us. They announce the Gospel to us, the good news to all of society: a child, neither strong nor rich, but weak and poor, can console, brighten up and even render old age fruitful. This is how it was for Simeon and Anna. They did not drop their eyes focusing only on their weakness and on their fading strength. In that child they found a new friend, a new energy, a new meaning for their old age. Simeon, after having taken up the infant in his arms, was able to sing the "Nunc dimittis" without the sadness of someone who had wasted his life and did not know what would happen to him. And Anna, the elderly woman, received a new energy and strength from her encounter with the infant to "praise God and to speak about the child" to whomever she met. Both, along with the group of shepherds and Magi, were the first missionaries of the Gospel. This Gospel passage of the "solemn encounter" between the infant and the two elders reveals how full and joyous life can be: the child, the small book of the Gospels, placed in the hands and hearts of the elderly can perform incredible miracles. Fragility of life is not a condemnation when one encounters the love and strength of God.