No longer I who live

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Today is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord but it also happens to be the anniversary of my sacerdotal ordination. Now, the anniversary of our ordination is usually a pretty big thing for us priests, even bigger than our birthdays. For this reason, the Missal allows us to celebrate a special liturgy for the occasion. But given that this feast is a big thing for the Church, I’ve always had to swallow my pride and take a back seat. It’s the festival of lights and the spotlight should be on Christ, the Light of the World.

But this year, I’ve decided to speak about the priestly and religious life. It would be absolutely self-serving if I chose this theme purely on the basis that it has to do with me. Since 1997, this feast has also been celebrated as the World Day for Consecrated Life, as Saint John Paul II explained when he instituted it: "The Virgin Mother who carries Jesus to the temple so that he can be offered to the Father expresses very well the figure of the Church who continues to offer her sons and daughters to the heavenly Father, associating them with the one oblation of Christ, cause and model of all consecration in the Church.”

During a brain-storming session last year with some of the leaders of this parish, one of the items we wished to highlight for this year, being a special Jubilee year for our parish, is the promotion of vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. In our centennial long existence, we have only produced one priest! If that is not a travesty, it should be a tragedy. Perhaps, the lack of vocations to the priesthood and religious life in this parish may have to do with the ability to sacrifice, or the lack of it, to consecrate to God what belongs to Him.

The link between family life and consecrated life is essential. For it is in the family that young people have their first experience of Gospel values and of the love which gives itself to God and to others, which is at the heart of the act of consecration. It is the family, that children should learn the value of service, of sacrifice, of giving our best to God instead of just keeping the best for ourselves and leaving the scraps for God.

The spirit of sacrifice, of giving, of rendering to God our best and our most treasured possession is what we witness in the gospel. St Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary undertook their sacred duty to present their child Jesus to God in an act of consecration. But here is the paradox of this scene. Our Lord has no need of consecration, because He is the Divine Word in the flesh, and yet allows His earthly parents to make this act of consecration to His Heavenly Father. They perform in external ritual what Jesus already is in reality, the Only Begotten Son of God. And our Lord Jesus then consecrates His earthly parents and the whole world to His Heavenly Father by mystically uniting them with His life, death and resurrection. They are saints because of Him.

The heart of the scene is certainly the Lord Himself. All attention, affection, expectation, and wonder are focused on the Light of the World. But the ones who surround Him all have in common a total gift of self. They have given everything to be there, both their past and future. St Joseph gave up his expectations for a normal married life. Mary gave up her autonomy to assume the great responsibility of bearing the Saviour of the World. Both Simeon and Anna gave up their youth in long years of waiting for the Messiah. Our Lady and St Joseph, Simeon and Anna, show us that Jesus is the One worth living for, the One worth all of our love, the only One whose claim on our hearts can bring to fulfillment the Love that has been promised us when He first invited us to “Follow Him”.

In each of these figures, we see a call to imitate Jesus, the Light of the World, who gave Himself wholly to do the Father’s will and in accordance to the Father’s will, gave up His life in atonement for our sins and to reconcile the world to the Father. In each of them, we come face-to-face with a vocation that demands all the human heart can give. Not only are we called to give each passing moment to God, but also to accept in advance whatever His will might bring in the future, whether it be a great blessing or sword.

Twenty two years ago, I was presented to the Church for ordination as a priest. In the theological language of the Church, I was configured to Christ. Something changed, a profound and radical change which is invisible to the eye. Sure, my quirks are still there. Sure, I get occasionally testy and snappy and impatient with those around me. Sure, I get tired and frustrated. But something objectively changed. It was more than a change of title or job, or a costume change, with me exchanging my lay civilian clothes for a religious uniform, but this fundamental change which I underwent is what we call an ontological change, a change of my entire being. As St Paul beautifully explains the experience of such change in Gal 2:20, “It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me.”

As we priests experience an ontological change at our ordination, baptism also brings about an ontological change in each of the faithful. In baptism, we are made children of God, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart for the worship of God. In baptism, we become a new creation. The old has been put to death on the cross. In Holy Orders, the priest is configured to Christ at his ordination, in a way calling for a permanent and lasting commitment, through a share in Christ’s eternal priesthood. The priest does not just emulate Christ. He is not just a substitute or a stand-in for Christ. Through ordination, the priest becomes Christ. That is the audacity of God. He takes an ordinary man with all his limitations and even sinfulness, and changes him into something else, not just a mere representative or ambassador, but to stand in the person of Christ Himself - in persona Christi.

Yes, the holy priesthood is a grace to the Church and to the world, but it is also a work of grace. What a priest is and what he accomplishes come from divine grace. In an era of personality cults, this is a humbling realisation for any priest, a realisation that leads to St Paul’s conclusion: “I can do all things in Him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13). The efficacy of our priesthood is derived from its true source, Christ. In order that a priest remains faithful to his priestly ministry, it is so essential that he remains in the Perfect High Priest Himself. Now, does this mean that you would see a “Fr Michael” incapable of making mistakes? Ordination isn’t Canonisation! Priests like everyone else remain sinners. But just like everyone else, he is called to holiness and through the sacrament of holy orders, he is called to configure himself to Christ. The weakness and sinfulness of a priest does not take away the efficacy of God’s grace but rather accentuates the truth that all is graced and that nothing can be accomplished without the grace and power of God.

So, my dear friends, on this great Festival of Light, even as the spotlight is centered on Christ, who as Simeon prophecies is “a light to enlighten the pagans and the glory of your people Israel,” spare a prayer for me, His humble servant. The Light of Christ illuminates those around Him, even if sometimes we choose to remain in semi-darkness. Pray for me … not for good health, or good wealth, not for greater wisdom or more pizzaz in my delivery. Pray only that I remain faithful to Christ whom I have been consecrated to. Pray as St Paul did, that “It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me.” And that is the only thing which matters!

The Light which enlightens

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Although today’s feast is clearly not part of the Christmas season, it does complete the Christmas cycle. I like to call it “the icing on the cake.” It is considered a Christmas feast because we are still contemplating the Lord Jesus as an infant rather than as an adolescent or an adult. Today’s feast usurps the Sunday liturgy, which is a rare thing in the first place but prescribed by the rubrics. Usually, other feasts have to give way to the Sunday liturgy which ranks much higher, but not today. In other years, where this feast is celebrated ideally early in the morning or in the evening for obvious aesthetic reasons, the Mass begins with the blessing of candles followed by a candlelight procession into the Church. Apart from the evening anticipated Mass, we have been deprived of the benefit of witnessing the most apparent feature of this liturgy, which you can deduce from the old name for today’s feast - Candlemas – or the Mass of the candles. Today is the Church’s Festival of Lights.

If you had not come for the service in the evening, you would have missed out on one of the major highlights of today’s feast – the candlelight procession, as the priest and the congregation enters the Church. This procession takes on a greater significance when we understand the history of this feast. According to the erudite Pope Benedict XVI, today’s feast supplanted an early rowdy pagan celebration which also featured a procession: “the pagan world’s wild cry for purification, liberation, deliverance from dark powers, meets the “light to enlighten the Gentiles,” the mild and humble light of Jesus Christ. The failing (and yet still active) aeon of a foul, chaotic enslaved and enslaving world encounters the purifying power of the Christian message.”

But in order to appreciate the wonder of the light, our story begins in darkness. Even though it is hard to appreciate the interplay of shadow and light in broad daylight, we can understand why it is important to have darkness in order to discern the importance of light. Light makes no sense without the darkness. In fact, shadow and light are the reality of our lives and our world.

As promised, our reflexion must begin with a meditation of darkness. Darkness is not just the absence of light. It has come to be synonymous with all that seems “negative” and “bad.” We recognise the darkness of the world around us – death, violence, selfishness, injustice and sin. We fear both the darkness and yet seem attracted to it. Sometimes we hide in the darkness avoiding the light because of our shame or guilt. There is also the darkness of uncertainty, especially about our future. There is a sense of powerlessness and life seems out of control. Sometimes we experience the darkness of ignorance and confusion.

But as Simeon would discover, there is a light which no darkness can keep out, there is a light which the darkness cannot defeat, there is a light which persist to shine in the darkness. No matter how large the shadows or how dark the night, the light is still present.

Something happens when we encounter the light. There is power in this light. It is a light which conquers the darkness. Wherever there is the least bit of light, darkness is forced to flee. You can be in the darkest place imaginable and just a tiny match, when lit, has the power to drive away all that black, oppressive darkness. Without light, our world would be dark and it would be drab. There would be no colour. But with light, a dreary world becomes brighter, and even the coldest chill will thaw. The light also gives life and thus is the enemy of death. God uses the light of our witness and testimony to warm the dead sinner’s heart and to draw them to Jesus for salvation. And then there is the Light which brings order to chaos – a Light which sets everything right, in its proper place and order.

But that Light, that Illumination, also reveals. It reveals hope, especially in this Jubilee Year of Hope – the hope that the night of darkness will not last for ever. Hope is sure to come with the dawning light. It reveals mercy and forgiveness in the shadows of guilt and shame, presence and courage in the night of fear, compassion and hope in the black holes of sorrow and loss, a way forward in the blindness of ignorance and confusion, and life in the darkness of death. The flame of God’s love consumes the darkness, fills us, and frees us to go in peace, just as God promised.

But every revelation is also a bittersweet reality. Truth can be painful. God’s salvation will be costly, not only for Jesus, but also for those who love Him. So, instead of offering Mary congratulations on her fine Son, Simeon prophesies that a “sword shall pierce” Mary’s heart. This prophecy does not only reveal the suffering which the mother must endure but also provides a glimpse of what is to become of the Son. In the Light which enlightens, we see the silhouette of the cross. But it is in the cross, that Christians will behold their brightest light – the light of the resurrection, God’s final victory over death, sin and darkness! And that is God’s promise to us on Candlemas Day: that whatever we’re going through, light and hope will win out in the end.

A Feast of Ironies

Presentation of the Lord

This week, we take a break from our usual ordinary Sunday liturgy as we return to the splendour and brilliance of Christmas. It has been said that this Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is a little Christmas, because of its association with light. Yes, Christ, the “light to enlighten the Gentiles and the glory of Israel,” has come to fulfil the promise of His Father. The narrative of Christmas comes to a close as we ourselves see, the purpose of the Incarnation - the Divine Word coming into our midst from the glories of heaven – is to bring salvation to man. That this takes place in the temple is in itself a further sign: God continues to reveal Himself to man in divine worship. Worship is not just the act of man, but it is primarily the work of God! In our liturgy, God continues to sanctify us, He continues to save us.

Today’s Feast is known by several traditional titles: Candlemas, Presentation of the Lord, Purification of the Blessed Virgin of Mary. But I would personally like to offer another title: Feast of Ironies!

Here is the first irony. In our antinomian world, where so many Christians believe that they are no longer bound by the rigours of the law because of the grace and freedom that we have received from Christ, where breaking the law seems to be a good thing and keeping the law makes you rigid, it is good to remember that both Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary came to the Temple in fulfilment of the law. Today’s feast actually commemorates two events prescribed by the Mosaic Law: the purification of Our Lady, and the redemption of her Son. The law also demanded a sacrifice. Here it is in the form of a pair of doves, which replaces the traditional sacrifice of a lamb because of the Holy Family’s poverty.

The futility of each of these actions makes them ironic. Firstly, there is futility in the ceremony of redeeming Christ. The offering of the firstborn son prescribed by the law in thanksgiving for the liberty of the Hebrew people did not apply to Christ, who had no need to be ransomed because He had no sin. Our Lord, who is the first born son of Mary, is also the only begotten Son of God. In fact, He had come to redeem the world by His sacrifice on the cross.

Secondly, our Lady was not bound to offer a sacrifice for her purification. According to Jewish law, the bleeding which a woman endured during childbirth renders her unclean. But Mary was free from every spot and stain of sin, and therefore had no need of purification because her spouse, the Holy Spirit, had preserved her from it.  Despite this, our Lady obeyed the law.

Thirdly, the offering of a dove instead of a lamb, is considered pittance by Jewish society and is the offering of the poor, had really no significant value. Here’s the irony. Something of greater value than a dove or a lamb was being offered here. Instead of a lamb, it is Christ Himself, the true Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world that is being offered.

Why would both the Blessed Virgin and Christ subject themselves to such ironical rituals? Well, the answer is simple – obedience. The Mother of God and God Himself bore the humiliation of obedience to the law, precisely to confirm its importance and fulfilment. It is by obedience to God, through law and by love, that we show most fully our desire to be united with Him.

It is such obedience that must be at the heart of worship. The humiliation and obedience of Christ and Our Lady by submitting to the Law, which clearly did not even bind them, reveals to us what is central in the holy sacrifice of the Mass. The Sacrifice of the Mass is not about ourselves, or about our own personal rights or opinions. But rather it is about God and what is due to Him. To “sacrifice” means to make sacred – to consecrate all that we are, all that we possess, our entire being, (which ultimately belongs to God) - to God. Such consecration can only take place when it is made on the foundation of willing obedience. The problem is that so many are tempted to make the Mass about themselves, about their likes and dislikes, thus leading to all forms of innovations and abuses. This is a qualified consecration, a limited and conditional sacrifice. Certainly not something which God deserves. In fact, God is often not the criterion for our actions. Rather, it is our own inflated egos and sense of self-importance that makes demands of Him and the Church.

It was the great liturgist, Romano Guardini, who reminds us, “The primary and exclusive aim of the liturgy is not the expression of the individual’s reverence and worship for God. It is not even concerned with the awakening, formation, and sanctification of the individual soul as such. Nor does the onus of liturgical action and prayer rest with the individual. It does not even rest with the collective groups, composed of numerous individuals, who periodically achieve a limited and intermittent unity in their capacity as the congregation of a church. The liturgical entity consists rather of the united body of the faithful as such-- the Church--a body which infinitely outnumbers the mere congregation. The liturgy is the Church’s public and lawful act of worship… In the liturgy God is to be honoured by the body of the faithful, and the latter is in its turn to derive sanctification from this act of worship. It is important that this objective nature of the liturgy should be fully understood. Here the Catholic conception of worship in common sharply differs from the Protestant, which is predominantly individualistic. The fact that the individual Catholic, by his absorption into the higher unity, finds liberty and discipline, originates in the twofold nature of man, who is both social and solitary.”

This ultimately is the example offered to us by the Lord and Our Lady on this Feast Day. Both were absorbed into a “higher unity,” that they were willing to put aside their privileges and rights, and obey this limited law for the single purpose of worshipping God and offering Him worthy sacrifice, which they alone could offer in perfection, because one was the Sinless One, and the other immaculately conceived by virtue of the merits of the former.

But then, it is not enough that our sacrifice, our divine worship, be based on obedience. To worship is our duty as much as it is our joy. It stems not just from the law, but also from love. Worship must be the response of one who is obedient to the law, but it must also be what we desire freely to do even if such laws did not exist. For Love is the most perfect law. It does not compel but attracts. In fact, it compels by attraction. Our obedience to the law is not opposed to our ability to love. Rather, our love is revealed through our respect and fulfilment of the law and through our freedom, channeled into the worship and adoration of God.

We are often surrounded by those who shirk the responsibilities and obligations of the law; who see them as a barrier to freedom in Christ; a stumbling-block to the love that flows to us from the Lord’s own heart. To fulfil the law, by its very nature, requires sacrifice; it requires an act of the will that demonstrates love. Yet that is why the fulfilment of the law, and the offering of ourselves in obedience of it, is at the heart of the Christian life and Christian worship. Law is nothing without love. Love is nothing without obedience; without the rigours that keep that love pure. Let this be the characteristic of our life; a witness to the perfect obedience and perfect love of Christ for our salvation, and a light to enlighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of His people.