The Presentation is also Groundhog Day. Originally it was known as Candlemas Day: if it was clear and sunny on Candlemas Day, it means "winter will have another fight."
Firstborn is a title. It does not imply that there is a second child. Even if a mother only had one-child like Mary, that child would still be called firstborn (Luke 2.7; Exodus 13.2).
Why would the Old Testament law consider it a “sin” to bring a child into the world? Because the pain of childbirth is a reminder of the Fall (Gen. 3:16) what we would call original sin.
The fact that Mary is offering a “sin offering” here in the Temple, doesn’t that prove that Mary is a sinner, just like the rest of us? That’s how many Protestants read the passage.
The truth is answered by St. Bede the Venerable (672-735) long ago, “who realizes that it doesn’t apply (by its own terms!) to a virgin birth. Specially, St. Bede wisely notes that the law only applies a woman who “had received seed” [Lev. 12:2] and given birth was to be judged unclean, but it does not apply to giving birth as a virgin.” Plus, he notes that just like Jesus who willed to be under the law to give as an example of humility, so did Mary, although Mary is a sinless, perpetual virgin (see also Galatians 4:4-5).1
Lessons for Ladies and Gentlemen through Anna and Simeon--
Anna, we hear, “was advanced in years.” That reminds me when several women went out to lunch to celebrate the birthday of their oldest friend. When the waitress came to take their order, one of the women said to her, “This is a very special occasion. It’s Elsie’s ninety-second birthday.”
The waitress made several instant enemies and one fast friend when she asked, “Which one of you is Elsie?”
Anna also reminds me of what a priest once told me. A little boy was praying the rosary with his grandmother and when they were finished, he took his rosary and twirled it around, saying, “Hey, Jesus, do you want to go for a ride?!”
Anna is a prophetess because she was capable of religious understanding that even most temple officials never attained. Like other prophetesses: Miriam, Deborah and Huldah (Exodus 15:20; Judges 4:4; 2 Kings 22:14). Saint JPII said many consulted Anna for her gifts of discernment and inspiration.
Anna was an intercessor, full of purpose and hope, who represented Israel and the church.2 She testified to Jesus “to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.”
For all prayerful Catholic women, regarding to use the gift of counsel, as Pope Francis illustrates, saying:
“I remember once I was in a confessional in the shrine of Lujan, in front of which there was a long queue. There was also a very young altogether modern fellow with earrings, tattoos, all these things … And he came to tell me what was happening to him. It was a big, difficult problem. And he said to me; I have said all this to my mother and my mother said: go to Our Lady and she will tell you what to do. [This man’s mother] had the gift of counsel. She did not know how to resolve her son’s problem, but she pointed out the right way: go to Our Lady and she will tell you….That humble, simple woman gave her son the truest counsel. In fact, this boy said to me: I looked at Our Lady and I felt I had to do this, and this and this …. I did not have to speak, his mother and the boy himself had already said everything. This is the gift of counsel. You, mothers, who have this gift, ask it for your children. The gift to counsel children is a gift of God.” 3
Anna was in the temple daily until they closed at night, with fasting and prayer- see Acts 13:12; 26:7 for how both the twelve tribes and the early church did the same.4
The Didache, a Christian writing from the early second century, advises Christians to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays. Fasting brings a change in consciousness. Internal dialogue slows down; the mind quiets; deeper longings can be heard.
Anna was a widow for a long time. How do we respond when God/life changes your plans? Anna could have fallen into a life-long sadness, because Luke writes that she was married for seven years, and then as widow until she was eighty-four, which could suggest either that she is currently eighty-four years old, or that she has been a widow for eighty-four years. 5
Like Judith, who was also a widow who chose not to remarry (Judith 8:4-8). The scholar Mary Foskett notes that there was a “relationship between sexual continence and prophecy in the first and second centuries.”6 Similarly, for those unmarried, in 1 Corinthians 7:32, St. Paul says, “I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord.”
2. For men, we hear that Simeon was righteous and devout. Righteous means obeying God’s law. Devout means to carry out religious duties.
Venerable Fulton J. Sheen said that “Pleasure is a by-product, not a goal. Happiness must be our bridesmaid, not our bride. Many people make the great mistake of aiming directly at pleasure; they forget that pleasure comes only from the fulfillment of some duty or obedience to a law.”
It does not say that Simeon is old, but his anticipation of his death suggests it.
The Holy Spirit remains on him so that the very moment for the Messiah to come into the temple, Simeon is present in the Temple.
Malachi 3:1, from our First Reading is fulfilled, “suddenly there will come to the temple the LORD whom you seek.”
Be ready for surprises. “For example, maybe you’re agonizing over a complicated relationship, and out of the blue, an idea for reconciliation comes to you. Or just when you’re ready to give up fighting a long-standing temptation, you suddenly find the grace to resist. Maybe you’re not even seeking Jesus very eagerly. But then, during Mass or in prayer, his Spirit brings his word to life in you in a new and powerful way.”7
Specially, in the role of a priest, Simeon blessed Mary and Joseph (v. 34).
Inherent in the act of blessing was the authoritative and effective
mediation of God’s power to grant well-being to others (Gen 14:18-19; Num 6:22-26; 1QS 1.19-20; 2.1-2, 6.4-7) 8
Simeon got to hold Jesus, “he took him into his arms and blessed God.” He prays to God looking at Jesus.
We are called to know, like Simeon, that Jesus “is destined for the fall and rise of many…” Thus, individuals choose their own fate by deciding for or against Jesus.
1. Joe Heschmeyer, A Protestant Presentation of Mary’s Sins, Catholic Answers, 2/2/2023
2. Heidi M. Birmann, Just a Number? Anna’s Age as a Component of her Characterization, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, December 31, 2023, page 704
3. Pope Francis (7 May 2014)
4. Krzysztof Mielcarek, PRAYERS OF OLD PEOPLE: ZECHARIAH, SIMEON AND ANNA, Verbum Vitae Date: December 31, 2012, pg. 90
5. Heidi M. Birmann, Just a Number? page 708
6. Mary F. Foskett, A Virgin Conceived: Mary and Classical Representations of Virginity (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002) pg. 36
7. The Word Among Us, Feb 2, 2022, pg. 22
8. David R. Seal, Hearing Voices: The Persuasive Use of Voice in Luke 2:25-35, Bibliotheca sacra, December 31, 2022. pg. 331
