Presentation of the Lord Sunday refers to Mary and Joseph taking Jesus to the Temple and observing the Torah’s command to “purify” Mary and dedicate Jesus to God. The ceremony is an Israelite example of what’s known as the “menstrual taboo” that anthropologists study in all cultures of the world. For example, the Lakota Sioux Indians had a special ceremony for girls upon their first menstrual period. Each month until menopause, the girl was obliged to separate herself from contact with others during her period. Whatever your ethnic background, you can count on finding SOME sort of tribal “taboo” associated with this biological reality.
The Sioux referred to Sacred things as “wakan”—a word that referred to the mysterious or spirit realities they knew to exist. Not having our biology books, the Lakota regarded the menstrual flow as mysterious—associated with the moon’s cycle and pregnancy. Such things must be dealt with in a special (sacred) way—such as what occurred with Mary (and all Jewish women) at the Temple. As stated, it seems cultures everywhere had SOME such behaviors associated with blood flows each month. We’re just not in touch with this reality in the same way as were our ancestors.
This historical and anthropological background is all good, but what does it have to do with you or me? Well, as you know, the Church has a liturgical calendar that is intended to put us “in touch” with concepts, or practices, or events of our religious and spiritual traditions. We learn about the life of Jesus, the people with whom he associated, a theological understanding of what he taught about God and what our behavior should be, and varieties of behaviors associated with Christianity (the sacraments, pious practices, celebrations, etc.). The Church’s liturgical calendar is LOADED with all sorts of yearly observances.
When I taught before coming here, I’d have a one-on-one appointment with each student in the different courses. I’d ask many questions, and one topic surprised me. Many students didn’t know how old their parents were or their birthdays. Some students knew the dates of Mom and Dad’s birthdays, but many did not. This told me that these types of students wouldn’t have a clue as to
This “Presentation” feast day is NOT just an event the Church highlights so that we know Jesus was presented in the Temple. Yes, it tells us that his parents wanted him to grow up as a child who was schooled in scripture and one who lived his faith. But the day ALSO should remind each of us—of the day that WE WERE PRESENTED IN THE TEMPLE, the church, for our baptism. On that sacred day, our parents brought us into the faith community’s gathering place (a parish church) and we were welcomed by members of the faith community.
The Feast of the Presentation is, thus, a special day each year on which we call to mind how we’ve lived our baptismal identity. It’s kind of a “check up” in which we reflect on the years and how we’ve walked a sacred road or if we’ve strayed from it. In short, we’re not just looking at the historical event of Jesus dedicated to God when he was a baby. Nope! We’re evaluating how and if we’ve walked and talked the ways of Jesus since OUR own “presentation in the Temple” (at church when we were a baby).
We observe this feast day each year on February 2nd—Groundhog Day! Like so many of the Church’s feast days, this one is based on the seasons of the year or the lunar cycle which tells us when it’s summer, winter, spring, or fall. These seasons are, moreover, associated with the planting or harvesting of crops. For example, this feast day occurs right between the winter and spring solstice. The “groundhog” in Punxsutawney, PA will or won’t see his shadow on this day—and will tell us if there are 6 more weeks of winter before the weather sees us planting seeds. Remember, too, that “fasting” during Lent is considered a “penance,” but it’s also the reality of our ancestors running low on food at that time of year—and HAVING to “fast” because there wasn’t much food to go around until better weather. So our ancestors spiritualized their lack of food—and called it “fasting” and offering our sacrifice to God. They put spiritual meaning on a fact of life—coping with little food during winter.
The next time you see advertised on TV “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray, you can tell family and friends the deeper meaning, or Christian interpretation of what is otherwise just a cute comedy. It’s the story of a TV crew sent to Punxsutawney, PA to cover the behavior of a groundhog named “Phil,” and his appearance on that day. Murray plans a smart alec reporter feeling bad about having to cover this lame story instead of something more exciting. He keeps waking up on February 2nd—wondering how he’ll ever get to February 3rd. The first time he lived the day, Murray was out for himself—cutting down people and having a wisecrack for everyone. He thinks only of himself. Each day, he wakes up and it’s time to re-live the day once again—with the same people saying the same thing, and him reacting to them in whatever way he wishes.
Eventually, his “do over” of each day sees him thinking of others first and helping different people one after the other—strangely becoming a kind of Christ-figure, man for others. Murray’s character is named “Phil” just like the groundhog (also “Phil”). Like the groundhog, he returns and “does over” February 2nd over and over again—until he gets it right! He finally reaches February 3rd when he’s actually become a decent guy who relates to people in a Christ-like way. In the film, his character even says at one point “Let me turn toward the light.”
This past week, I was reminded of this film since I had a number of encounters which, upon later reflection, I could have done better. I could have said or done something I failed to do with this person or another. And that’s the point of the film “Groundhog Day” and the purpose of our reflecting on the Presentation.
If we sincerely look at our lives—which we do when coming to Mass—we can see the time of the week when we could have lived our baptismal identity better than we did. Amen.