Homily for February
2, 2020
Presentation of
Our Lord
Light of Truth
A few
years ago, I was assigned to a parish that had a significant parish library.
One day I was browsing through the library when I came across a book that
caught my eye: it was entitled, “Ten Best Guesses About Life.” Written by a
Catholic priest, the book’s introduction said, “Well, I don’t have any real
answers about God, suffering, or the meaning of life, but here are my ten best
guesses.”
That frustrated
me so much I wanted to throw the book across the room! While I respect someone
who is humble and knows their limitations, I’m looking for more than ten best
guesses – I want to know if there are answers
to these fundamental questions about the human person!
Thus,
today’s Feast. This is often considered a feast of light, for two reasons. First,
before the days of Netflix and Youtube, our ancestors were much more connected
to the seasons and the sun and moon. February 2nd is halfway between
the beginning of winter (the shortest day of the year) and the beginning of
spring (the day on which the day and night are equal length). So, in a real
sense, this is day in which the physical light is growing stronger, helping us believe
that spring is right around the corner (which is also why that groundhog comes
out in Pennsylvania on this day…). But more to our point, this is a feast that
celebrates Christ as THE Light of the world.
God commanded the Israelites to
consecrate every firstborn son to the Lord. A special sacrifice was required
for the firstborn son, recognition that children are a gift from the Lord to be
raised according to His commands. So Mary and Joseph bring Jesus forty days
after Christmas to the Temple – 40 being the number of testing and purification
in Scripture. This is the first time that baby Jesus would have been out in
public – a sign that the Light of the World is now being offered to the world. Simeon sees this as not just a light for the
Jews; no, he says that Jesus will be a “light for the Gentiles” so that the
entire world will live in the light of God. This is why this Feast is often
called “Candlemas Day” and candles are blessed today – as a symbol of Christ,
the true Light of the World.
What is
the connection between Jesus and light? Light illuminates – it shows us how
things really are. We’ve all seen something in the darkness and didn’t know what
it was – “Is that a bear at the end of my driveway, or just my trash can?”
Light shows us what things really are, it reveals things hidden in darkness.
And Jesus, as the Light of the World, illuminates reality.
John
Paul II once said, “Christ reveals man to himself.” Do you want to know what it
means to be human? Look at Jesus. Do you want to know the answers about God,
suffering, the meaning of life and love? Look at Jesus. We don’t need “best
guesses” when we have the light of Christ! Jesus continues His teaching work on
earth today, through the Church. Jesus’ life, example, teachings, and Church
all answer the deepest questions of the human heart.
That’s
why I have never really understood why people so often disagree with teachings
of the Church, Christ’s Body on earth. All of the teachings of the Church are
meant to illuminate reality. Even the controversial teachings, like the
teachings about sexuality or immigration or respect for life, are not a list of
prohibitions, but show us what it means to be truly human. The Church’s
teachings – which continue Christ’s teaching work – shed light upon reality
itself, helping us make sense of this crazy thing we call life. After all, as
Pope John Paul II also said, “The Church is an expert in humanity!”
But this
light does more than just instruct us in Truth. Light also helps to purify us
as well. We’ve all had that window that we think we’ve cleaned really well, but
then the sunlight hits it, and all of a sudden we see a smudge we missed! Or
perhaps we’re having dinner in a darkened restaurant, and it isn’t until we get
home and face the bright bathroom lights that we realize we spilled pasta sauce
on our tie! Light helps us purify things.
Isaiah
tells us in the first reading that when God comes to His temple, He will “purify”
the sons of Levi – those are the priests who offer sacrifice in the Temple. And
Simeon says that Jesus will cause considerable controversy – He will be
responsible for the “rise and fall” of those in Israel, and “hearts will be
laid bare” – in other words, we will find out who’s fake and who’s real, who
loves God and who only pretends to love God.
There
really are only two options when it comes to Jesus. Either we love Him with our
whole hearts, or we dismiss Him as irrelevant to our lives. If we’re somewhere
in the middle, we will not stay in
the middle – we will either be growing to love Him more, or will quickly lose
what little faith we had.
Have you
ever seen on EWTN a priest named Fr. Don Calloway? His conversion story is
rather remarkable. He was a drug addict by 13, and a dealer by 15. His father,
a military man, moved the family to Japan, where as a teen Don got involved in
the Japanese mafia, dealing drugs, committing petty crimes. He eventually got
kicked out of the entire country of Japan and was sent to rehab back in the
States, but nothing was working. Finally, one Friday night when he was 20, he
declined invitations from his friends for yet another party. He was depressed,
miserable, empty inside, and didn’t want to be with them anymore. Bored at
home, restless, and wondering if he should just end it all, he picked up a book
from his mother’s bookshelf to distract himself.
The book
happened to be about Marian apparitions – how Mary appeared in Fatima, Lourdes,
and allegedly in Medjugorje in Yugoslavia. He read the book in one sitting and
was moved to tears – God loved him? The purpose of his life was to spend
eternity with God in Heaven? God wanted him to find abundant life through
repentance and holiness? These simple yet powerful truths illuminated his mind –
and caused him to purify his life.
The next
day he went to a Catholic Church and met with a priest, who told him the good
news of God’s Divine Mercy. He then went home and literally purified his room –
he brought out over 20 big trash bags full of everything from his past life –
rock concert tee-shirts, drug paraphernalia, books and CDs and anything that
reminded him of his sinful past. He started attending Mass daily, praying the
Rosary, and is now a Catholic priest.
His mind
was illuminated by the light of Truth. That same light purified him, purged him
of his sin. Today, that Light is offered to us. Do you question the meaning of
life, of love? Do you wonder how to be happy, how to grow through suffering?
Don’t just take your ten best guesses. The answers are out there – revealed by
Christ the Light.
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