Presentation of Jesus joins young and old: Pope

Vatican City, 3 February 2014: The Presentation of Jesus in the temple is “a meeting between the young full of joy in observing the Law of the Lord and the elderly full of joy by the action of the Holy Spirit”, said Pope Francis’ during Sunday homily. “It is a singular meeting between observance and prophecy,” noted the Pope. He was celebrating the 18^th World Day for Consecrated Life, which fell on Sunday, 2^nd February, highlighting the fact that at the centre of Consecrated Life there is always Jesus. In 1997 John Paul II dedicated the feast day as the World Day for Consecrated Life.

The Presentation, recounted in the Gospel of Luke, is the story of the infant Jesus and his parents meeting the elderly Simeon and Anna in the Temple in Jerusalem. However, Luke’s gospel repeats four times that Mary and Joseph “wanted to do that which was prescribed by the Law of the Lord,” in bringing their child to be dedicated to God, observed Pope Francis.

“The parents of Jesus had the joy of observing the precepts of God, yes, the joy of walking in the Law of the Lord... It’s not an external fact, it’s not to feel alright, no! It’s a strong, profound desire, full of joy,” the Pontiff explained.

The elderly Simeon and Anna “were guided by the Holy Spirit.” Simeon was a “just and pious man who awaited the consolation of Israel” while Anna was a “prophetess” who was “inspired by God.” “In other words,” said Pope Francis, “these two elderly people are full of life! They are full of life because they are animated by the Holy Spirit, docile to his actions, sensitive to his call.” This meeting points to a deeper reality in the Church, added the Pope.

Pope Francis said that the commitment to religious life should be seen as a “meeting with Christ.” It is Jesus Christ who “comes to us, brought by Mary and Joseph, and we who go towards him, guided by the Holy Spirit. But He is at the center.” “He moves everything, he draws us to the Temple, to the Church, where we can meet him, know him, welcome him, embrace him.”

The Pope explained that this encounter can take place in organizations of vowed religious. “Jesus comes to meet us in the Church through the foundational charism of an institute: it’s beautiful to think this about our vocations!” exclaimed Pope Francis to the many men and women religious in the congregation.

“And also in the consecrated life, one lives the meeting between youth and the elderly, between observance and prophecy,” he continued. “Let us not see them as two opposing realities!”

Observance of the law and prophecy must work together, he urged. “A sign of this is joy, the joy of observance, of journeying in the rule of life, and the joy of being guided by the Spirit, never rigid, never closed, always open to the voice of God who speaks, who opens, who leads.”

Pope Francis then encouraged the elderly to share their wisdom with young people, and young people to “receive this patrimony of experience and wisdom,” in order to “carry it forward,” not “to keep it in a museum” but rather “for the good of the respective religious families of the whole Church.”Source: VR Sedoc