The Light Of Christ

Luce_Rosone_Cattedrale_di_San_Sabino

Feast Of The Presentation Of The Lord

Fr. Mark Gatto

Preached: February 2, 2025

One of the traditions on this Feast of the Presentation, is to bless candles. They are symbols of the light of Christ coming into the world. The light that is offered to humanity in the coming of God into our midst in the Incarnation. The Word of God becoming flesh.

Light is necessary to see. Without light, we would be in pure darkness, unable to see. Jesus brings a light that allows us to see more deeply as human beings. Light to see ourselves more honestly. Light to see others with greater compassion. Light to see the will of God in my life.

One of the architectural features of our new church is that each room has lots of natural light entering. Including the two large windows allowing light into our church space and even the light of the radiance around the crucifix on our reredos. All symbolizing the light of Christ al-lowing us to see more clearly.

In the gospel for this Feast we see the story of the elderly Simeon in the Temple as Mary and Joseph come to present the baby Jesus, as was the Jewish custom. He responds with a prayer that is still said each evening by priests and religious today during Night Prayer of the Liturgy of Hours. Sometimes known as the Nunc Dimittis. “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation…” He is an elderly man who has been paying attention, watching for the Messiah. It says, he was guided by the Spirit to enter the Temple just when the parents of Jesus bring in the child Jesus. He was someone who was watching, paying attention, listening for the movement of God in the world. Most others at that time failed to recognize what God was doing in Jesus. But Simeon recognized it in this little baby.

Simeon was able to recognize this because he was a man of prayer. Prayer is not ordering God to do something! Though sometimes we treat it that way. Prayer is about paying attention, be-ing awake to what God is doing in our midst. What is the will of God in this moment? In our prayer we are not ordering God to do something, we are trying to open our eyes to follow what God would want to do, so that we can join in that work of God.

The challenge for each of us is to pay attention, to listen, to watch for the movement of God in our lives, in our community, in our world. What is God doing? Do we notice it? Then join in that work of God.

There is lots of anger in our world today. So, many have spoken to me recently about the an-ger that is so often part of their life. When we see the politics, the news, social media, it cre-ates anger within us no matter which side of the issues or debates we are on. We really need to allow the light of Christ to help us to see more clearly. We are so distracted, so busy, so fo-cused on the issues in our world, that we do not see the movement of God in our midst. How do we free ourselves from being overwhelmed with anger in our lives so that we can recognize what God is doing?

We need to follow the example of Simeon who recognized the movement of God in that baby brought into the Temple by his parents. To see more clearly with the light of Christ. There are three basic things that help us to see with the light of Christ.

First, spend time in prayer. Including coming to Mass in the church, which is able to open our eyes to how God is at work in my life at this time. By taking time from our lives, to stop for a moment and join the church in prayer, it helps us to see our lives with the light of Christ.

I also recommend two key foundations of a good prayer life. Begin the day by looking ahead at our day and simply asking God to open my eyes so that I will recognize the presence of God in all that I do and in all who I meet that day. Then at the end of the day, take a short time to review the day in the light of God. What has happened? Where was God in all that I did and all the people I encountered? It is what the Jesuits call the Examen prayer. Beginning and ending each day in turning our attention to God in this way is crucial to living in the light of Christ.

Second, examine the distractions that block the light of Christ in our lives. Social media, enter-tainment and so on. For me Twitter, Youtube, they can become a distraction in my life. You may have other things that do that in your life. Take some time in silence each day. Shut out the distractions. Otherwise we can just go through life blindly.

Third, slow down. When we are too busy, rushing too much, we usually fail to see with the light of Christ. We go through life like we are walking through a fog. There is a slow move-ment that is all about slowing down. A good question to ask ourselves: Do I enjoy food, do I enjoy my relationships, do I enjoy prayer? Are we too busy? This can be an obstacle to the light of Christ.

Simeon was able to recognize the work of God in Jesus, the light of the world. We all need to allow the light of Christ to help us to see more clearly. To do this we will need to spend time in prayer, remove the distractions in our life, and slow down. Then we may be able to see with the light of Christ. See ourselves more honestly, see others with more compassion, see the will of God for more clearly.

 

 

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