Light of the World

Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of baptizing the cutest baby in the whole wide world.  

Okay, I admit that this is a purely subjective opinion, merely the boast of a doting grandfather, for the young girl I baptized, Ava Marie Gordon, is, in fact, my granddaughter.

However, in some mysterious and hard-to-pinpoint way, Ava is blessed with particular combination of features that people perceive as singularly beautiful.  For example, a few months ago, I was waiting in the car for Mary Kate, who is Ava’s mom and my daughter, and Ava to come out of Starbucks.  From the door to the car, Mary Kate was stopped by two separate people marveling at how beautiful Ava was.  Mary Kate told this happens almost regularly – perfect strangers go out of their way to comment on how beautiful Ava is.  In a way, it can be a bit disconcerting.

I’m guessing that Mary and Joseph felt like this as they came into the Temple.  Today, we call this feast The Presentation of the Lord, but there was actually no law that a first-born male child must be presented at the Temple.  There was a consecration of first-born male child, a dedication of this child to God, (Ex 13:1-2), but it did not require an animal sacrifice or presentation at the Temple.  On the other hand, a woman was required to undergo a purification ritual forty days after giving birth to a male child that involved an animal sacrifice to God (Lev 12:1-8).  In Jesus’ day, this sacrifice could only take place at the Temple, hence Mary was the reason for attending the Temple.  Naturally enough, Joseph and the baby Jesus were with her, but they were, according to the law, mere by-standers in this visit.

However, no sooner do they enter the temple, than the small baby becomes the focus of attention.  Simeon and Anna – total strangers to Mary and Joseph – come to praise God for the wonder of this young child!  (Lk 2:25-38)  And what praise they had!  Simeon calls Jesus a light of revelation for the Gentiles and glory for his people, Israel.  From this proclamation, we also call this day Candlemas, a day on which many churches, in a tradition that reaches back over 1500 years, bless the candles that will be used during the coming year.

Light is one of the most common metaphors in the New Testament.  In John’s Gospel, Jesus describes himself as the light of the world (Jn 8:12) and in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus insists that we, as his disciples, are also to be the light of the world. (Mt 5:14)   In the baptism ritual, each of the newly baptized receives a candle lit from the Easter candle, symbolizing that through baptism, they have been enlightened by Christ.  They are now, like all of the baptized, children of the light (1 Thess 5:5).  They now carry the light that the darkness cannot overcome (Jn 1:5), the light that Simeon proclaimed to Mary and Joseph (Lk 2:32), the light that brings salvation to the world (Acts 13:47).

May this light of Christ burn brightly in Ava Marie Gordon, and may it burn brightly in each of us baptized in his name.

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.