Thought for the week: Let us work to make peace among people
Tomorrow, February 2 is a very important day in the Church calendar. As 'The Feast of The Presentation of Christ in The Temple', and falling exactly 40 days after Christmas, it marks the occasion when, according to Jewish law, Joseph and Mary had to take the baby Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem, bringing along with them two turtle doves to offer as a sacrifice, as a rite of purification after child birth.
What happens at the Temple is nothing short of miraculous. Two prophets encounter Jesus and understand there is something special about him. First, there’s Simeon, who, as the Scriptures reveal, was righteous and devout, and who had been waiting day after day, for years upon years, to see the Messiah.
But on this day, he takes the infant Jesus into his arms and, in the words of the canticle Nunc Dimittis, proclaims: “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to Thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; to be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel.”
Secondly, there’s another prophet, Anna, who had lived 84 years, and who prayed and fasted in the Temple night and day. On this day, however, she noticed that something was different. She finds Mary and Joseph, and the baby, and begins to tell about Him, as Redeemer of the world.
Like Simeon and Anna, we yearn for the coming of the Messiah, for all in this world to be put right: for the hungry to be fed, for prisoners to be set free, for the sick to be healed.
We hope that our prayer and sacrifice and faithfulness will be fulfilled: that equality will come for all God’s people, that peace will prevail over the whole earth, that justice will conquer all oppression.
And so, we believe. We believe because we have been waiting. We believe because we have been watching. We believe because we have discovered the truth.
The hard truth of the festival of Christmas, of the Presentation, is, in the words of American early 20th century philosopher and theologian Howard Thurman, simply this:
“After the prophets have spoken, When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among people,
To make music in the heart.”
Let us work, pray, and give, to make it so.