This day, with the presentation of the Lord, the Lord of all goodness, is brought to the
people and publicly proclaimed by the prophet Simeon to be the Messiah. For nearly all the
doctors and fathers who have commented on this passage of scripture speak that when Simeon
declared these marvels, when he declared his benediction, he did so in a loud and public voice
so that all who were gathered and were listening with good hearts heard that this child whom he
received from the arms of Mary, from the hands of Mary, was the anointed one.
The Savior of the world. And so the presentation of the Lord becomes very significant for us
because in it is fulfilled what this ritual was intended. For the couple was to purchase
this child back by giving five shekels, and the five shekels would symbolize the five wounds that
the anointed would receive for the salvation of the man. And that is why Simeon says this day
what the Lord had promised him is fulfilled.
He has received the anointed, that is the Christ, and he has received him as first the shepherds did
in the Magi from the hands of Mary. And so in today's gospel, we are confronted with that
constant theme that Christ and his mother work in unison. Indeed, Simeon will prophesize this
very clearly to the Blessed Virgin herself. For the sword of sorrow shall also impale her heart,
but we must not understand that the sword,
the sword of sorrow, is somehow based on some morbid sense. For that sword of sorrow that
pierces the mother's heart is really a sword of love because it is her burning love of God
that allows her to enter into the mystery of our redemption in a most extraordinary way. Indeed,
she does so as the co-redemptrix of the world. And so she submits herself this day to the ritual
purification, not because she has any personal sins to make her self-sacrificed, but because she
loves God and she knows that penance is required in order to purchase souls for his kingdom. She
unites all her suffering, and indeed, she allows herself to be humiliated this day so that she is
not considered separate from other women. And so she submits herself to the ritual of the law
in order to enter more deeply into the mystery of our redemption. And so she submits herself to the
mystery of that joint union of the hearts of sacred, the sacred heart of Jesus in the immaculate
heart of Mary, those hearts that through their suffering and their sorrows will purchase for us
the kingdom of God. And so it is quite true that through her, all hearts are laid bare for our lady
exposes to us who we truly are in our need for repentance. And so ultimately, our hearts are
laid bare when we enter into the sacrament of condemnation. And so she submits herself to the
confession, thereby recognizing our sinfulness and our worthlessness in front of God. But by his
grace and his mercy, we also recognize that mission that Christ and his mother would accomplish for
the salvation of the world. We receive God's grace and we strive with every fiber of our being
to live that life that he and his mother came to give us. And often when we fail, then our hearts
are continually laid bare for each and every time we participate in the sacrament of condemnation.
Confession and all the sacraments of the church, we are showing to our Lord in his most holy mother
that we know we are dependent upon what they did for us. And without their work, we cannot even
begin to do the work of pleasing the Lord. And so we truly rejoice in this, in this presentation of
the Lord. We rejoice because it begins to show us in a very explicit way that the hearts of Christ
and Mary are always and everywhere united in one goal.
That is the salvation of souls and soul. Christ would deliver himself up to the agonizing death
on Mount Calvary and the mother would stand at the foot of that same cross, allowing her soul
to be impaled with the sword of sorrow. And there she would sacrifice her maternal rights over her
son so that all of us may become adopted sons of God our Father and hence children of Mary.
And so today we marvel.
We marvel at the mysteries that transpire. We marvel at the public proclamation of Simeon that truly
this is the anointed one and this is the woman foretold from the very beginning. Indeed, it fulfills
that first of all prophecies that there will be enmity between the woman and Satan and that the
woman will crush the head of the serpent. And so she begins this day publicly, that mission of
crushing the head by allowing Simeon to take possession of the Christ child. And there,
he proclaims publicly to all those gathered in the temple that this truly is the anointed of the
Lord. And so if we understand the message in today's gospel, then we will understand that
most profound maternal command that our mother will give us at the wedding feast of Cana. Do
whatever he tells you. And what our Lord tells us is to repent from our sins, recognizing that
on our own we can do nothing, but by the grace of God and his mercy,
we can do all things for the kingdom of God, because even though we are unworthy,
we are called to unite ourselves to Christ and his mother so that we can become in cooperation
with the redeem, in cooperation with the mission of the co-redemptrix, we can become little
co-redeemers, offering all our sacrifices and all our penances in reparation for our sins and for
the sins of the world, so that all may come to know the love and mercy of God,
come to know it first in their baptism and preserve it through the sacrament of the Eucharist,
and if we fall, to regain it through the sacrament of confession, always and everywhere turning to
that mystery of our salvation, that mystery that is rooted in the hearts of Jesus and Mary,
whose hearts are always united in love for mankind. And so they are always calling us,
calling us to this most profound mystery, that truly,
like Simeon, can now rest because we too have seen the glory of the Lord,
not by our physical eyes as Simeon did this day, but by the eyes of faith in which we declare
that in the Eucharist it is the same child that is now in the hands of Simeon that comes to us
in a most extraordinary way in order to strengthen us for this journey, so that ultimately we can
rest with him forever, for all eternity in heaven.
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