February 2 Co-incidence?

(written 2/2/20)

Forty days after Christ was born, our Lady and St. Joseph followed the prescription of Exodus 13:1-2: The Lord spoke to Moses and said, ‘Consecrate to me every first-born that opens the womb among the Israelites, both of man and beast, for it belongs to me.’ [Spanish]

Why perform the ceremony? We read, in that same chapter of Exodus:

If your son should ask you later on, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall tell him, ‘With a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, that place of slavery. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed every first-born in the land of Egypt, every first-born of man and of beast. That is why I sacrifice to the Lord everything of the male sex that opens the womb, and why I redeem every first-born of my sons.’ Let this, then, be as a sign on your hand and as a pendant on your forehead: with a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt. (Exodus 13:14-16)

Faithful Israelites kept this law of the Old Covenant to remind themselves that they owed everything to the Lord—their land, their freedom, their nation—everything. Our Lady and St. Joseph cherished these words of Scripture. They dutifully obeyed this law, as we read in the holy gospel, on the fortieth day after Christmas.

Now, up in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, they have a famous groundhog. Named Phil. Every year, on the fortieth day after Christmas, the nation wonders: Maybe the Lord will give us an early spring? All attention focuses on the groundhog, and whether or not Phil will see his shadow when he emerges from hibernation. All this on the same day we Catholics keep this holy feast of Candlemas, when we travel spiritually to the Temple in Jerusalem to encounter the baby Jesus, like Simeon the priest encountered Him.

Is it some kind of unbelievable co-incidence that these two events occur on the same date? Candlemas and Groundhog Day—both February 2. Just a co-incidence? Negative. It’s no co-incidence.

Way before Punxsutawney Phil the hibernating groundhog—many centuries ago—in Austria and Hungary, they looked for the hibernating bears to awake on Candlemas Day. Since they were Christians, they understood a hibernating bear waking up from its winter’s rest in a spiritual way. They saw an image of the resurrection of the body, through the triumph of Christ over death.

To us the whole business of whether Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow—it might seem weird. But it has this ancient Christian origin. The Europeans of former centuries thought: if the hibernating bear sees his shadow, that meant he had not fully put off his soul in death. Therefore, the bear could not yet represent Christ’s resurrection. So springtime had to wait another six weeks. But if the bear emerges with no shadow, that means the sleep of death has run its course. The waking bear represents the resurrection of the body. Time for spring.

Now, the actual bears and groundhogs involved in all this could hardly make any sense out of it. They cannot grasp the Christian spiritual interpretation of the passage from winter to spring. But we can make perfect sense out of it. Especially when we meditate carefully on the mystery of Jesus’ Presentation in the Temple.

When our Lady and St. Joseph brought the baby to the Temple to present Him to the Father, “Simeon took the child into his arms and blessed God, saying: Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” (Luke 2:27-32)

The picture of Simeon receiving the Lord Jesus in his arms and rejoicing with pure faith: that image explains the spiritual meaning of the hibernating animals waking up from the sleep of winter.

Simeon rejoiced because he knew by faith that his long wait was over. The Messiah had come. The day of salvation has arrived. That mystery unlocks for us the true meaning of everything we experience on earth. God has destined us for eternity. The incarnate Son of God has conquered death for us.

To imitate Simeon is the true spiritual goal of February 2. To receive Christ into our hearts with pure faith, to rejoice that the day of salvation has come, and to rest our minds and hearts in the Good News. That is the unending springtime of Christian life.

The Lincoln Memorial of the Church

Philip Roth wrote a novel about what would have happened if Franklin Delano Roosevelt had not won re-election in 1940. The Plot Against America imagines that Charles Lindbergh became president that year instead.

Lindbergh then makes a peace pact with Hitler, instead of committing to the alliance against him. American Jews begin to experience terrifying anti-Semitism, like the Jews in Europe.

The novel centers on one New-Jersey Jewish family.

In an early chapter, they take a family vacation to see the sights of Washington, D.C. They visit the Lincoln Memorial. Dad insists that his two sons carefully read the Gettysburg address, which is chiseled into the marble wall. “All men are created equal.”

Then they return to their hotel and discover that the manager has evicted them from their room. A clerk had mistakenly allowed them to check in. Jews are not allowed.

The fictional father interprets the situation to his sons: We are proud Americans. We love America. America has her ideals, and we cherish them. But the incumbent President of America betrays America by betraying her ideals. What is America? We know by her ideals, which you can read on the wall of the Lincoln Memorial. Not by the current president.

An amazingly moving scene. [NB. Apparently they are working on a t.v. mini-series version of the novel.]

…In 1953, Pope Pius XII made today, November 21, Pro Orantibus Day. He urged Catholics to pray and give thanks for all the cloistered nuns and monks, who spend their whole lives praying for us.

They pray for us. They also strive to live purely by our ideals. A life of contemplation of the truth that does not change.

My point is that Christian contemplatives are like the living Lincoln Memorial of our Church.

Of course the USA is a political reality, with a relatively short history and no divine guarantees. While the Church has not just ideals to live by, chiseled on a wall somewhere–but the living, breathing Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.

During this period of time, however, we Catholics reasonably wonder if our current leaders have a grip on how to govern our Church according to her true ideals. So I think this analogy might help us.

No matter who holds office right now, the Catholic Church always has an indestructible, living Lincoln Memorial. The “vanishing center” of the Church. In their hidden chapels and simple cells, all they do is pray. And hope for heaven. And love God and everyone.

 

More Reliable than the Groundhog

Forty days after Christmas, we commemorate a unique and dramatic moment. When the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph brought the firstborn to Jerusalem, the eternal Son entered the Temple of the eternal Father.[SPANISH.]

Now, this coming of the Son into the bosom of the Father—this is an eternal thing—the eternal thing that explains everything else. Literally everything.

The only-begotten Word, coming forth from infinite Love, returns, with infinite Love, to His Origin. The triune communion of God, unending and glorious—from this life all things come, and towards this life all things tend.

On February 2^nd, Mary carried the baby into the Temple, and this reality of the eternal triune love became visible on earth. Visible, that is, under a veil. At that moment, the human eye could only see a small, poor family carefully fulfilling the Law of Moses. But the eyes of faith, like Simeon had—they perceived at that moment divine Light, the Light of triune love. Simeon’s eyes perceived the fulfillment of all things in the love that brings the only-begotten Son back to the bosom of His heavenly Father.

When we believe, we see light overcoming the darkness of winter. It is absolutely not a co-incidence that Candlemas and Groundhog Day are the same. Centuries ago the Germans has a superstition that if clouds covered the sky on Candlemas morning, then winter would end early. The custom involving Punxsutawny Phil comes from this superstition getting imported to Pennsylvania.

Some people believe completely in the groundhog, even though statistics demonstrate that he only gets it right 40% of the time. We, on the other hand, believe 100% in the baby Who made this day special in the first place.

We believe in His light. He grew up and died, at the end of winter. But then He rose again, and brought a springtime that will never end.

Groundhog Day with No Variables

—

Our Lady and St. Joseph took the Lord to the Temple on the fortieth day after His birth. They fulfilled an ancient law. “You shall redeem your firstborn by offering sacrifice to the Lord, because He slew the firstborn of the Egyptians to liberate you from slavery.”

The Passover. The angel of death passed over the households marked by the blood of the sacrificial lamb. The holy nation marched to freedom. Simeon saw the Lamb, God made man, ready to shed His Blood for His people. So the old man declared our Christian faith: “My own eyes have seen the light of salvation! Peace!”

Whom has God Almighty liberated from slavery? On whose heart has He daubed His own most-precious Blood? Upon whose faces has the undying Light shone?

…What is Candlemas all about? Why do we light the same little tapers we use only today and at the Easter Vigil? Why does the Easter candlelight fill our temple today?

We are the people. God Almighty, Lord of heaven and earth, master of times and seasons, governor of history—He has made Himself our kind Father. In the covenant consecrated by the blood shed on the cross, the Precious Blood of our Mass.

Frickin’ Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow. But we set no store by such frivolous superstitions. Shadow/no shadow does not concern us.

For us, in our temple, February 2^nd has no variables. Light wins. God is light, and His light wins. We are the People God has chosen to be His own. Not because we were good. He has chosen to form His people from the great mass of sinners.

We will march to freedom, because Jesus Christ is our God. In this world we will have troubles. But we rejoice because He has overcome the sin of the world.

Simeon Sees the Turning Point

—

“Lord, now you let your servant go in peace. Your word has been fulfilled.” Luke 2:29

Every once in a blue moon, the 40th day after Christmas falls on a Sunday, and we all celebrate the feast of the Presentation together. It’s been 11 years since the last time. I was a transitional deacon then, in Silver Spring, Maryland. That was a winter when we had two blizzards in one week. There was a convent of nuns at the parish where I was living. I took it upon myself to shovel the walkway from their house to the church, so they could get to Mass. The snow was piled three feet deep. It took all day.

Anyway, this feast marks an end, and a beginning.

A Vigil Ended

Why did the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph bring the baby Jesus to the Temple? Because the Law of the Old Covenant commanded that every firstborn son be consecrated to the Lord and redeemed by a sacrifice.

Why did the Law require this? Because the freedom of the nation of Israel rested on the death of the firstborn throughout the land of Egypt, in the days of Moses. The consecration of the firstborn, as the book of Exodus puts it,

will be like a sign on your hand and a band on your forehead that with a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt (13:16).

Day and night, St. Simeon kept this sign on his hand and this band on his forehead. He kept a perpetual vigil of faith.

The Lord our God, the mighty and strong, slow to anger, swift to bless—He liberated us, brought us out of nothingness itself. He gave us our land, flowing with milk and honey. He gave us this holy Temple on Abraham’s mountain.

He did it all for a reason, His reason. And now we await the fulfillment of His plan, the consummation of our nation’s task. It will come in God’s time; it will come at the right moment.

I may grow old and blind and weary. But I will wait on the Almighty hand. I will wait here at the very spot where Abraham trusted God. Abraham trusted to the point of his own firstborn’s death…

So whispered Simeon to himself. And then the Blessed Mother walked through the door, with the God of Abraham in her arms.

Pride of David, Humility of God

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How exactly did David sin by ordering a census? It would seem that the simple act of counting the people does not, in and of itself, constitute a sin. God ordered Moses to count the people. Hence we have a book called…Numbers.

So David did not sin simply by ordering the count. The sin had to do with David’s intentions. Did he want the sword-bearing men counted because he had a mind to expand his realm even further, in order to bring greater glory upon himself?

David’s general Joab initially objected to the taking of the census. At this point in time, the king had reached old age. Joab certainly thought, with good reason, that there could be no sense in launching another military campaign anytime soon.

We admire King David as a beautiful and noble man. We also know him to have been weak and sinful, too. After all, who among us can claim immunity from pride and vanity?

So perhaps David ordered the census for vanity’s sake, and thus it was a sin.

It is a happy co-incidence, then, that we read about this—speaking of counting—on the 39th day after Christmas, which is the day before the baby Jesus was presented to the Father in the Temple.

If anyone has good, solid reasons to be vain and proud, that would be God. God would have every right to enter His Temple in splendor and state, with smoke and thunder.

But He did not do so. He did not even travel under His own power when He entered His Temple. He had not yet learned to walk.

Mid-winter is the time of year for blessing church candles, and for using blessed candles to bless people’s throats. With the April temperatures we have had, it hardly seems necessary to give St. Blase blessings. But let’s not jinx ourselves. The groundhog could still see his shadow.

But the point is this: The beautiful candle of divine humility has been lit. The Blessed Mother and St. Joseph carried Him in. Simeon did not cower in terror. Rather, the old priest saw a smiling divine baby, and he sang his canticle of peace. The promise of the prophets has been fulfilled with a quiet word of love; the Messiah has come, and He is, above all, gentle.

Pride and vanity spoil for war. Humility brings peace.

…But, speaking of war: Georgetown Hoyas. UConn Huskies. 7:00 p.m. No prisoners.

Incomprehensible

Incomprehension at Verizon Center

How could the Hoyas beat up on Duke on Saturday and lose to South Florida on Wednesday?

Incomprehensible.

But if you want really incomprehensible, try: Almighty God.

You are quite unable to think of such a thing [as God]. Such ignorance is more religious and devout than any presumption of knowledge…

We are talking about God, so why be surprised if you cannot grasp it? I mean, if you can grasp it, it isn’t God.

Let us rather make a devout confession of ignorance, instead of a brash profession of knowledge. (St. Augustine)

…Perhaps you have been wondering two things:

1. Why haven’t we heard anything from Fr. White since Saturday?

2. Why doesn’t Fr. White ever write anything about the world-famous “Year of the Priest?”

I have been basking in the mystery of what happened 40 days after Christmas, when the most pure Virgin went to the Temple to be purified, and she and St. Joseph redeemed the Redeemer with the sacrifice of a some birds.

Why was the Temple built? Only at this moment did the reason become fully clear. The Temple was built for the Son of God to enter it, and then offer Himself to the Father.

The Blessed Mother carried Him in, so that He could make this offering from His little Sacred Heart.

So we see that there are two priesthoods.

1. Some of us men perform the ministerial priesthood. It is a sublime mystery. The Lord uses us to make Himself present, so that He can be the Church’s offering to the Father.

2. All of us Christians perform the baptismal priesthood. We offer the Son to the Father, and ourselves along with Him.

The ministerial priesthood is God giving Himself to us. The baptismal priesthood is us giving God back to Himself, and giving ourselves to Him at the same time.

May we all exercise our priestly office every day, with fidelity and generosity.

…Please say a prayer for the repose of Fr. Levester Jones.

We have lost an excellent priest at a young age. May he rest in peace. May the Lord console all of us who love him.

Presenting the Nea

Hoyas 3-0! Yeah, buddy.

Speaking of which, it was nice to see our old homeboy Jeff Green on the court against the Wizards last night…

…Looking for an act of devotion in honor of the Solemnity of Christ the King?

Consider adding your e-signature to the Manhattan Declaration…

…After I finished high school, I got a job typing the reports of a company of local archaeologists.

The company specialized in pre-historic archaeology–that is, the study of artifacts produced by people who did not have writing.

In our area, you can discover a pre-historic artifact while you are out for a walk. There are still Algonquian arrowheads and potsherds lying on the surface of the earth.

Contrast this with archaeology in the Old City of Jerusalem. On Monday evening, we walked down four flights of steps from street level. We emerged into a cistern that was built to hold water for use in the Temple in the fifth century B.C.

Chiesa Nuova in Rome

There are books written about the building of that temple–they can be found in the Old Testament. My point is: In Jerusalem, archaelogists have dug and dug and dug, and they still have not gotten to the pre-historic level.

And here is some more perspective: In our day and age, since the beginning of the Digital/Organic Era (which began when Bill Gates’ net worth reached $1 trillion), “new” refers to something that came into being in the last half-nanosecond.

In Rome, there is a beautiful church called Chiesa Nuova, the “New Church.” It was completed in 1606.

In Jerusalem, the Nea, the “new” church in honor of Mary the Mother of God, has lay buried beneath the rubble of earthquake and Persian destruction for 1200 years.

Today is the day the Nea was dedicated in A.D. 543.

Our Lady was born in Jerusalem. She was among the girls who cared for the Temple paraphernalia.

When Mary brought the newborn Jesus to the Temple to present Him to the Father, she encountered the priest Simeon and the prophetess Anna. The three of them may already have known each other.

The above is a mosaic map of Christian Jerusalem. It is not easy to read. The Cardo, or main street, runs left to right through the middle of the city. The huge ancient basilica of the Holy Sepulcher is below the main street, the Nea is above it, to the right. There was an annual procession between the two churches.

…I am sorry that I allowed the following “Bests” list to get as stale as five-year-old granola bars. It is retired. An exciting new edition is available behind the Bests tab above.

Feast of the Presentation Homily

Statue of St. Jerome near Sheridan Circle in Washington, by Ivan Mestrovic

Every word in Sacred Scripture is precious. We do well to read the Scriptures as much as we can.

Forty days after Christ was born, our Lady and St. Joseph followed the prescription of Exodus 13:1-2: “The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “Consecrate to me every first-born that opens the womb among the Israelites, both of man and beast, for it belongs to me.”