“A picture is worth a thousand words,” as the saying goes. In today’s first reading the Prophet Malachi speaks of another messenger whose anticipated arrival was awaited with much desire by the Jewish people. Malachi writes that this mysterious person will be pleasing to the Lord and will purge every tinge of imperfection from his priests and his people. He will fulfill the covenant and be swift to judge with justice. Malachi writes that “You will find him in the temple”.
While our Christmas season has faded into the past, our feast today celebrates the Jewish ritual in which the first-born male born was presented in the Temple as a sacred offering to the Lord. What a thought! The most precious gift we receive from God is symbolically offered back to the Lord, the source of all that we have… and all that we are.
How our faith really challenges us! God’s messenger, God’s Word, God’s revelation of himself to his creation was manifested in such a fully recognizable and human experience, a child…. a vulnerable, needy, dependent, infant in whom lies the salvation of a broken world.
The Feast we celebrated today calls to mind our need to present ourselves to the Lord; that we are called to offer our very being and the work of our hands to do what God asks of us in bringing about the Kingdom of God here in our time, where we work and live and go about our daily tasks.
Jesus enters into the human family in an ordinary way, subjects himself to the rites and rituals of the Jewish faith in order to fully embrace our human condition. Throughout his ministry, Jesus continues to draw closer to the Father and discerns what is God’s Will for him. And, by so doing, Jesus becomes for us the “The Way, the Truth and the Life.”
The Prophets Simeon and Anna tell Jesus’ wonder struck parents somewhat of the foreboding road that lies ahead… there will be challenges for their child to overcome, there will be pain and suffering for him and them, too. Isn’t that the story of life? Perhaps that’s why God’s Messenger begins his story where we all do, an infant. May our journey through this life, like Jesus’ follow the path God has laid out for us. And may we follow his example and place our hope and trust in him.
Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom
Please Visit www.deaconspod.com and listen in as the three deacons engage in a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold, those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it.
OTHER RESOURCES
Recommended Reading: Christian Mystics - Their lives and Legacies throughout the Ages by Ursula King Introduces sixty men and women whose great devotion and mystical relation to God transformed the times in which they lived and continues to affect our search for spirituality today.
Recommended Podcast: 3 Stages of the Spiritual Life according to the Catholic Saints. A look at the lives of those who wrote extensively and contributed greatly to the spirituality of the Catholic Church? This video will explore some of the thoughts of St Teresa of Avila, St John of the Cross, St Catherine of Siena, St Francis de Sales and St Bernard of Clairvaux.
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