February 2, 2025

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Malachi 3:1-4; Hebrews 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40

Even though the Christmas season has been over for a while, I think a famous Christmas story helps us to get at a lesson from the readings today. Most people know the short story titled “The Gift of the Magi” by the writer O. Henry. It is the story of Della, whose prized possession is her knee-length brown hair, and her husband Jim, whose prized possession is a gold pocket watch which has been in his family for many years. When searching for the perfect Christmas gift for each other, both find themselves without much money. So Della cuts off and sells her hair and Jim sells his watch. Then at Christmas, they exchange gifts: Jim having bought expensive combs for Della’s hair that she will not be able to use until it grows back, and Della having bought a platinum fob chain for a watch that Jim has sold. O. Henry is known for his use of irony in many of his writings, and this is of course an example of cosmic irony at one level, but in his last paragraph he asks that we think more deeply about it. He says: “The magi, as you know, were wise men – wonderfully wise men – who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. … And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that, of all who give gifts, these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.” [ http://webhome.auburn.edu/~vestmon/Gift_of_the_Magi.html ]

Even though we are done with the Christmas season and have seen the magi come and go, in the final analysis this story is not about Christmas – that is only the setting of the story. It is about love and sacrifice. And this story is not about the magi. It is about wisdom which is personified by the magi. It is about the wisdom of love and sacrifice. O. Henry uses the word “sacrifice” in his final paragraph since it is this that makes the couple wise, not the decidedly unwise belief that expensive gifts are important. I mention this because our readings today have several lessons, but an important one is about sacrifice. Mary with Joseph and Jesus goes to the temple at the end of forty days for a purification and presentation rite prescribed by the law of Moses after the birth of a child. In addition to going to the temple, the law states that they should present for sacrifice a year-old lamb and a dove or a pigeon. If the family is poor, two doves or pigeons can be offered, as the Gospel indicates was done since the Holy Family were not rich, at least monetarily so. In the first reading, the prophet Malachi also tells us that sincere sacrifices are pleasing to the Lord. I discussed two weeks ago the idea that hard work and sacrifice is part of developing a sense of satisfaction with one’s contribution to society, an important component of happiness. And making a sacrifice of part of one’s hard-earned possessions back to God can be a part of this, the satisfaction that one has taken the abilities that God has given one and used them to do good in the world, a world that God made good and wants us, in his likeness, to also create our own good.

 But there is something else we should look at in addition to satisfaction when we discuss sacrifice. It is appreciation. Why do we give some of what we have back to God? Surely God doesn’t need what we have – God has it all. We must realize that we don’t give some of what we have and what we do back to God for God’s sake; we do it for our own sake. When a farmer gives the first ten percent of the harvest to God, what is called in the bible the first fruits, it helps him or her to remember that the rest is also God’s, that it is all a gift from God. While most of us are not farmers, the same thing applies to our lives with our time and talents and the subsequent treasure they produce. By giving some back, we acknowledge the gifts that we have are from God. By giving some back, we have a greater appreciation of what remains.

We see this in the Gospel in the person of Simeon. We are told that he is “righteous and devout” [Luke 2:25], which is our clue that he made every sacrifice, both legal and moral, to live in accordance with God’s will. In response to God’s gift of a savior, we hear a wonderful prayer of thanksgiving to God. In addition Simeon prophesizes that Mary and indeed many would incur additional sacrifices, and informs us that this was “so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” [Luke 2:34-35 NABRE]. At the end, a sacrifice either results in one understanding and giving thanks, the action of a loving heart, or it turns in on itself and resents what is considered a loss of one’s due, having to give up what one feels that they have earned by their own merit, the action of a closed heart. In the end, God returns our gift of sacrifice with his own gift, a spiritual gift of appreciation. And without appreciation, we will never arrive at joy.

In “The Gift of the Magi,” O. Henry speaks of the wisdom of this seemingly hapless couple. And the story ends without his telling us why they were wise. But we know. After the initial disappointment of their gifts not being what they hoped, and after understanding the irony of the situation, they must have understood the great sacrificial love that each had for the other, a love that is ultimately a gift that is more valuable than any human-made gift that could be imagined. God’s gifts to us are even greater, but only if we appreciate those gifts and accept that love and share in it. A sacrifice made only because of obligation is a heavy burden, but a sacrifice made out of love and appreciation is no sacrifice at all.

As we continue with the Liturgy of the Eucharist, this memorial of the sacrifice of Jesus for the sake of all humanity, may we be given the grace to understand his sacrifice, appreciate it, and be more open to returning our own gifts back to God. May we always appreciate all the things we have in this life as ultimately gifts from God, signs of the love God has for us. Once we understand this, then we will be as wise as the magi.