CONSECRATED LIFE
The painting on the front cover entitled “The disciples of Emmaus” reflects our journey of hope. Jesus not only walks with us, but gives us the wisdom to perform our ministries and opens our eyes to see Him in the people that we are serving.
THE LAST WORD
THE PRESENTATION OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE (LK 2: 21-38)
BY MARIAN PALLISTER | CHAIR OF PAX CHRISTI SCOTLAND
THE LAW, the temple and the prophecy are the three key features which identified the One who was to come. Jesus is the Word made flesh, the Glory of God, and His own face. His first coming to Jerusalem marks the threshold of the passage from the economy of expectation to that of fulfilment. The course of the night—anxiously awaiting dawn— ends, and the course of the sun begins.
Jesus’ humble entry into the temple, in accordance with the fulfilment of the law, is to be linked to the vision of Mal 3:1 about the final visit of the Lord and His judgement. Now we can call by name Jesus (v. 21), in whom the law is fulfilled (vv. 22-24). In the power of the Spirit, Simeon recognises the Lord and prophesies—after his song of joy—his expectation being fulfilled. Simeon, a figure of the Old Testament and a symbol of every man, can now die in peace. The fear of death is conquered, because the awareness of a child God who will die, is present. The memoria mortis (memory of death) is no longer frightening, but is instead transformed into an ars vivendi (art of living) in peace, because it is finally possible to find God within one’s own limit (vv. 25-35). Finally, there is the recognition by Anna, the widow who finds the bridegroom of Israel (vv. 36-38).
The Lord visits His temple. A dreadful day for man (cf. Mal 3), in default of his obligations. However, He comes with the weakness of a child, not to judge the breaking of the law, but to submit Himself as a man to the obedience of the Father who has been disobeyed. He comes to pay our debt, offering Himself to Him who has offered everything. It is not that God demands man’s sacrifice to His own majesty: that is the lie of Adam and of all religious perversions! By presenting Himself to God, the human being is restored to himself/herself. Every first-born is His, yet not in the sense that He wants him/ her for Himself, but that He gives him/her to the world. God is not a spring which swallows water! He is the giver of life. To present the child to Him is to recognise the gift of life that He gives, and in Him life itself as a gift, to be able to draw from it in abundance.
“THEY RECOGNISED HIM IN THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD” (LK 24,13-35)
Through this episode, Luke shows us how the risen Lord is still present today in our lives as believers and how we can encounter Him.