My Eyes Have Seen Your Salvation
Why does God command us to offer up what is most precious to us? Br. John Paul Puschautz, reflects on the Gospel for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (Lk 2:22–40) in our weekly video series.
Have you ever wondered why God commanded His people to offer their firstborn? Well, this law is a perpetual reminder for the people of Israel that the blood of the Passover lamb saved their firstborn sons from the destroying angel in the land of slavery.
It also reminds us of one of the most difficult passages in scripture, where Abraham is told to offer his beloved son, Isaac, in sacrifice.
Now, this is scandalous. Why does God command us to offer what is most precious to us? What can this offering or presentation mean?
C.S. Lewis tells us that there are three types of natural love: Eros (passionate love), Storge (familial love), and Philia (friendship love). These three loves are beautiful gifts from God who is love. But, they must have divine love at the source and summit. If they do not, they will corrupt and eventually turn into hatred. When we put something or someone above God, we make it our idol, wanting it to fill the God-sized hole in our hearts. And this is not going to work, because our hearts are restless until they rest in God.
That is why we must offer these good but limited loves back to God. They are gifts from God and so we offer them back to Him, so that God can truly be the center of our lives. And, the most amazing thing is that when we offer these loves to God, we receive one hundredfold.
Joseph and Mary present the baby Jesus in the temple because He is the Father’s gift of light not just for them, but for the entire world. They don’t try to possess, hoard, consume, cling, or control this gift, and therefore they can receive Him anew as a precious, gratuitous gift.
The ancient feast of the presentation begins with a procession with candles into the church, which represents Christ the Light, illuminating the world. This fragile flame is a beautiful image of the flame of love that we are entrusted. When we cling selfishly to these loves, we end up burning ourselves and suffocating the flame.
However, when offer what we love most to God, these flames burn brighter and brighter, and this light shines in the darkness, and the darkness grasps it not.
Image: Fra Bartolomeo, Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, 1516, Public Domain
