A: Presentation of the Lord (2 Feb 2020) - BORROWED LIFE (Lk 2:22–40)

Life is borrowed. This is not only a cliché. It becomes real each and every day of our lives.

For the past couple of days, we are witnesses to hundreds of deaths. From September of last year until now, bushfires have been blazing and torching the Australian forests creating a massive inferno that destroyed 15 million acres of land which is the biological home of diverse forms of living beings. At the beginning of the year in the Philippines, there was the volcanic eruption of Mt. Taal that affected severely the lives and livelihood of at least 100,000 inhabitants of the area with its continuous spewing of ashes of sulfur dioxide and ongoing seismic quaking of the grounds. Recently in Wuhan, China, a lethal plague called coronavirus has spread all across the region, claiming the lives of at least a hundred people and instilling fear to the whole world as the outbreak swiftly creeps into nearby communities with 4,577 confirmed contaminations. Last Sunday, a helicopter crashed into the mountain ranges of California that took the lives of nine people, one of whom is the basketball legend and superstar Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers along with his thirteen-year-old daughter Gianna, that broke the hearts not only of sports affectionados but of parents who value their relationship with their own children as well as exemplified by this iconic ambassador of goodwill.

All of the abovementioned deaths are unexpected, sudden, and fatal. Nobody saw the end coming to these people, as these events happened either as natural calamities or tragic accidents. Indeed, life can be taken from us in the blink of an eye. With this bitter truth, our basic realization, thus, should be: to live our lives to the fullest each day, making a difference to the world by our decisions and actions, valuing relationships more than personal achievements, and being prepared to meet our Creator anytime with clear consciences and peaceful dispositions. Doing so transforms our human existence into real gifts, not only to others but to both humanity and God as well.

The Feast of the Presentation of our Lord echoes the same spiritual truth. Our gospel today both begins and ends with this note. Accordingly, we read its first verse:“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” (Lk 2:22). There are practically two things here, viz., the purification of all mothers on account of emitting blood in childbirth (cf. Lev 12:2–6), and the presentation to the temple of the Lord of all male offspring (cf. Lk 1:59; Gen 17:12), especially those who are first born (cf. Exo 4:22; 22:29–30). The whole point of this Levitical ordinance of Moses, which was being religiously observed by the family of Jesus, is that life comes from Yahweh for he is the “Lord [y]our God”—a phrase that is repeated in the Book of Leviticus some 81 times!

Additionally, the last verse of our gospel today sustains the same principle emphasizing God’s generosity: “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him” (Lk 2:40). The word “favor” in the original Greek is “charis” which lexically means “favor, grace, gracious help/deed, goodwill, gift” (cf. BDAG). In other words, as the child Jesus has grown and lived a life of offering to the Lord, God’s daily graces continue to guide and abound in him. Thus, a symbiotic relationship of graciousness is at work here.

Notably, it instructs us to do the same: our lives of consecration to the Lord assures us of God’s perpetual care and protection, and a constant realization of our daily blessings from the Lord makes us live lives of blessing to God and to others. A beautiful quote from Eleanor Powell goes: “What we are is God’s gift to us, what we become is our gift to God.” Indeed, we are called to make a difference to the people of this world, a path that we shall cross but once. One of Mr. Bryant’s philosophies in life captures this maxim well with his words: “The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great at whatever they want to do.” May we be all a constant inspiration to others.

- Rex Fortes, CM