Sunday Sermon - 2.2.25
LATIN MASS: PURIFICATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
LESSON: Malachi 3:1 Behold I send My angel, and he shall prepare the way before My face. And presently the Lord, whom you seek, and the angel of the Testament, whom you desire, shall come to His Temple. Behold he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts. 2 And who shall be able to think of the day of his coming? And who shall stand to see him? For he is like a refining fire, and like the fuller's herb: 3 And he shall sit refining and cleansing the silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and shall refine them as gold, and as silver, and they shall offer sacrifices to the Lord in justice. 4 And the sacrifice of Juda and of Jerusalem shall please the Lord, as in the days of old, and in the ancient years.
Today is 40 days since Christmas, the Nativity of the Lord. This was when mothers and firstborn sons had to perform specific rituals at the Temple as part of the Old Covenant. This was why the Holy Family was going to the Temple and bringing Our Lord to the Temple. This was the first time that Jesus Christ visited the Temple after the Incarnation. Sacrifices were offered to God to redeem or purchase back Our Lord to the Holy Family for a time. It is the first time that Our Lord visits the Temple of God in His plan to redeem mankind and to purify us all.
GOSPEL: Luke 2:22 And after the days of her purification, according to the Law of Moses, were accomplished, they carried Him to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord: 23 As it is written in the Law of the Lord: Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord: 24 And to offer a sacrifice, according as it is written in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons: 25 And behold there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Ghost was in him. 26 And he had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. 27 And he came by the Spirit into the Temple. And when his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the Law, 28 He also took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said: 29 Now Thou dost dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word in peace; 30 Because my eyes have seen Thy salvation, 31 Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples: 32 A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.
While herself needing no purification, as she was always purified by God, Our Lady still submits in holy humility to the prescribed purification rituals of the Old Covenant. We see that same holy humility from Our Lord when He submitted to the baptism of repentance from St. John the Baptist. He had no sins to repent of, yet to fulfill all in holiness, He submits to it. In doing so, He raised the baptism of John into the sacrament of Baptism. By His holy baptism, He sanctified all water on earth so that it could be used to baptize anyone on the globe. In the same manner, Our Lady submitted to this beautiful ritual so that she could model the holiness of mothers in the New Covenant who bring forth a new baby and bring that baby to the Church for baptism.
NOVUS ORDO: FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD
OLD TESTAMENT: Malachi 3:1 See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before Me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His Temple. The messenger of the Covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of Hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; 3 he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
Our sun, while still a little star, is 93 million miles away from our planet. Even from that distance, this small star will burn out your eyes in a few seconds if you look directly at it. Ponder over what it must be like for a soul to enter into the throne room of God. Sitting on that throne will be He who is light itself. He is infinitely brighter and more glorious than the sun. His radiance will purify and burn away any blemish from sin or any venial sin in your soul. But you must be prepared to stand before Him in humility. Go to Confession to cleanse your soul so that you might be ready for Him. We can continue to work on purifying ourselves through the sacraments and His grace, but as we see in 1 Cor 3, on our Judgment Day, all of our works, all of our actions and all our words will be tested by the fire emanating from He who is light itself. Do not have any mortal sin on your soul or that same fire will torment you in hell instead.
NEW TESTAMENT: Hebrews 2:14 Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. 16 For it is clear that He did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore He had to become like His brothers and sisters in every respect, so that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because He Himself was tested by what He suffered, He is able to help those who are being tested.
Our Lord came down from Heaven and became Man, so that He might lift us up to be with Him. He has gone through and experienced life as a Man. We do not worship a distant or indifferent God. We worship He who became Flesh. He loved us before we loved Him. He loved us so much that He went through His Passion for us. Never take that for granted.
GOSPEL: Luke 2:22 When the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), 24 and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the Temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him what was customary under the Law, 28 Simeon took Him in his arms and praised God, saying,
29 “Master, now You are dismissing Your servant in peace, according to Your word; 30 for my eyes have seen Your salvation, 31 which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to Your people Israel.”
33 And the Child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about Him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to His mother Mary, “This Child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed 35 so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
36 There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the Child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
39 When they had finished everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40 The Child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon Him.
Something a lot of people miss in the prophecy of Simeon is the part about the prophecy of Our Lady. It says that a sword will pierce HER soul. She is so completely united to Our Lord because of her immaculate nature, that she experiences the Passion almost as much as Our Lord does. What hurts and causes Him pain also causes her pain. She is pierced spiritually by the sword that pierced Our Lord’s heart. This sword is what ultimately ends up ending the life of Our Lady many years later. She suffered from this for many years, offering up this suffering for the salvation of souls.
For further reading, you can also check out this post about the Fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary: The Presentation.