A Ritual of Faith
Text: Luke 2:22-40
A Ritual of Faith
When our younger son, Jah-bi showed his anger, tears, lots of sighing for not being able to see his old friends at his previous school, my partner and I sensed a grief he was going through. We moved last summer, and because of that, Jah-bi had to say goodbye to his beloved school including his best friends. We tried to keep him in the same school by writing a letter to the school board, but it didn’t work. Starting a new school during the pandemic has been a challenge for a grade 4 student despite his reputation as a social butterfly at his previous school. So, we decided to plan for a special ritual for our son. We bought a strawberry roll cake. Jah-bi loves anything that has strawberry in it. We also prepared candles with an antique candle holder that had been sitting on top of the fireplace as decoration. One day, after Jah-bi came home from school, we entered the ritual of remembrance together. First, I explained to him how everything takes time. ‘It takes time for a seed to grow into a plant. It takes time for a baby to be born. It takes time to learn a new sport or instrument. A journey also takes time. Every step we take along the way is important, just like every place we visit along the journey is important.’ Then I invited him to name some of the places that are meaningful for the journey of our family. He began to name some of the places we have been to or have lived in the past. After naming each place, we gave thanks for the gift we received from that place, and Jah-bi lit a candle one by another: the place where the love of his parents began, the place where it grew, the place where we first arrived and settled in Canada, the place where he was born, the place where he made good friends, and the place we now call home. Those candles were a visible sign of invisible gifts we have received from all those places. Jah-bi was so excited that he wanted to light more candles, so many gifts, so many candles we ran out of them. The ritual gave me some insights. All the places we celebrated were equally important as each place made the next possible like steppingstones. The act of remembrance made us aware of the presence of God who journeyed with us; we have been blessed with the gifts each place brought to our lives.
I wonder if Jesus’ family experienced something similar on the day when their baby was presented to God. Jesus was about six weeks old. By this time, baby Jesus had started developing a social skill with a smile, holding his head up, moving his arms and legs more smoothly, and responding to the surroundings – especially any loud sounds and any moving objects. The infant and the parents had been through a lot. They were on the run, like refugees due to the dangerous and unpredictable circumstances under the rule of Herod. Bound by the same destiny, the baby was absorbing the emotions of his parents. In the midst of the chaos, the young family took time to participate in a ritual according to the Law of Moses, a ritual of faith. Luke puts together two separate regulations: the purification of the mother after childbirth and the dedication of the firstborn child to God. The purification rite called for the sacrifice of a lamb and a pigeon. Poor people such as Mary and Joseph could not afford a lamb, so they were allowed to sacrifice two pigeons or doves.
I wonder what was going through their minds when they made the sacrifice. Mary and Joseph already sacrificed a lot – their time, comfortable or ordinary life, and their dream - for the sake of the baby they never expected or planned. Why did they need to make another sacrifice? The tradition of the consecration of the firstborn is an ancient one, found in Exodus 13. As soon as the Israelites escaped from the land of Egypt, Moses urged the people to remember this day when they became free. The consecration of the firstborn was ultimately a way to remember the gift of liberation they received and the Giver.
Fr. Rolheiser, a Roman Catholic priest and author of many books including “The Holy Longing”, explains how sacrifice recognizes gift as gift. He said, in order for something to be received as a gift it must be received twice:
“A gift, by definition, is something that is not deserved but given freely. What is our first impulse when we are given a gift? Our instinctual response is: "I can't take this! I don't deserve this!" In essence, that gesture, that healthy instinctual response, is an attempt to give the gift back to its giver. But, of course, the giver refuses to take the gift back and gives it to us a second time with the assurance: "But I want you to have this!" When we receive it the second time, it is now more properly ours because, by trying to give it back, we healthily recognized that it was a gift, unmerited, undeserved……To properly receive anything, including life itself, requires that we recognize it precisely as gift, as something undeserved. And to do that requires sacrifice, a willingness to give some or the entire gift back to its giver.”
Sacrifice recognizes gift as gift. This is a profound message. I admit that I didn’t like the word, sacrifice. Historically, the powerful have used it to take advantage of marginalized people – women, children, racialized groups, LGBTQ community, and people with disabilities. I also didn’t appreciate what’s involved with sacrifice: pain and suffering. I don’t believe God wants us to suffer. Jesus suffered on the cross not because he chose pain or hardship over any other but because he was receptive to God’s will to the end; he chose love over fear and hate. Jesus says, I came so you may have life, and have it abundantly. Paul appeals to believers to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is spiritual worship. At the heart of sacrifice there is a recognition that we belong to the Life that is bigger than any of us. The best of who we are, and what we have been given are meant to be shared. Awakened from the illusion of being separated from our source and each other, we can find a deeper understanding of sacrifice. It brings us back to the never-ending cycle of blessing.
It is true that the covid-19 pandemic continues to require our sacrifices. The hardest part is not necessarily the sacrifices we make, but the sense of loneliness and isolation that we may feel everyday. The truth is that though we are physically separated, even when we feel separated, we are never separated from one another spiritually. We belong to each other, and we belong to God. With all the things we have given up, we are in the process of uncovering the gift and the Giver.
Today we remember how Jesus was presented as the true gift for all. We also remember the precious gift called life, and how it can continue to be a blessing for others.