The waiting is over. Emmanuel is now with us. God, incarnate in Jesus, has begun His great rescue mission to humanity. Jesus has ransomed captive Israel and all the nations of the earth. The readings today echo the waiting of the Advent season but also recapitulate the exile and glory of Israel. In the story of Israel, we see the story of our own journey of estrangement from, and longing for God.
During Jesus’ presentation in the temple, Simeon’s canticle of praise recalls the prophecies of Ezekiel regarding the return of the Lord to the temple (Ezek 43:1-5) and of Isaiah regarding a light for the Gentiles (Is: 42:6). Also in the story of the presentation is Anna the prophetess. While Simeon represents the longing of Israel for her Savior, Anna models the disciplined life of a disciple.
Because she was an elderly widow, Anna’s life was one of poverty and insignificance. Yet Anna never left the temple. She lived a life of worship and prayer. God did not consider Anna’s life insignificant. He delighted in her worship and listened to the cry of her heart. Because Anna lived such a life, God granted her grace to recognize her Savior and become one of the first evangelists – “she spoke about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.” (Lk 2:40)
Our Exile
God’s return to the temple implies that at one point He had left. Indeed, we hear of the departure of the glory of God in chapter 10 of Ezekiel. Of course, God does not really leave us. That is just our limited frame of reference. At difficult moments in our life, we cannot see that what looks like God’s flight from us is really our self-imposed exile from God.
The great epic of God’s departure and return to the temple of Israel is also the story of our lives. When we forget God and place other wants in our lives (like the idols of Israel) above God, we find ourselves in a bad place. As Dante captures in the opening line of the Divine Comedy: “I found that I was in a gloomy wood, because the path which led aright was lost.”
Our Redemption
Fortunately, the Catholic faith is filled with guides to help us back on the right path. We see the ingeniousness of the Catholic Church in liturgical seasons such as Advent and Lent: special times of year set aside for prayer, introspection, and penance. We have our parish priests, our bishops, and the pope to counsel and guide us. We have the sacraments to strengthen us. And we have figures from the bible as models of discipleship. Examples such as Anna. To her community Anna was a person of little account: as sometimes we feel insufficient, small, or forgotten. But Anna’s example of prayer and sacrifice showed she understood God’s will. Because of this, she had great favor with God. Even if we find ourselves off the right path and in self-exile from God we can return in an instant because God is always waiting, near at hand.
