Letting Go — The Feast of the Presentation
Sermon delivered by Eric Hollas, OSB
Saint John’s School of Theology/Seminary
2 February 2015
While it’s good to celebrate the feast of the Presentation with an eye on Jesus, perhaps it’s better to consider two other characters in today’s gospel. And were I to put a label on what they are doing, I would call it “letting go.”
In the true sense of the phrase, Mary was offering her son in sacrifice, just as Abraham was prepared to do with Isaac. Her son belonged to God, not just because the angel had told her so, and not just because that was Jewish law. Her son had work to do that only he could do; and she needed to let go, starting with this visit to the temple.
I’d like to think that for Simeon the “letting go” was just as difficult. For all his life he had waited to glimpse the messiah. His entire reason for being had that one objective. And now, with the messiah in front of him, that part of Simeon’s life was over. He had seen the promise fulfilled, but not completely. But he would not be part of the ministry of the messiah for whom he had longed.
In one respect this is a feast not only for parents, but also for those in ministry. We work for something. We sacrifice, and we give ourselves in service to others. But our goal is not to enslave these people or shape them into our camp followers. Rather, our goal is to help them mature. Then it is our job to get out of the way and to let them fulfill what God has called them to do.
I hope we all have plenty of such opportunities to let go in our lives. We’ll measure our success in ministry not by the number of our fans, but by the independent and free children of God whom we’ve helped to maturity. We’ll measure our success by our ability to stand back, let go, and marvel at what God has managed to accomplish through us.
[The carving of the Presentation at the Temple is from the facade of the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris.]
