The transcendent encounter

The texts in the Roman Catholic Lectionary today celebrate the Presentation of the Lord. This was a Jewish tradition in which the child was brought to the Temple to be presented to God. The Gospel of Luke relates the impact of this Temple liturgy on two prophets, Anna and Simeon. The moment for them is one of encounter with the Transcendent. The Promise to Israel was being fulfilled. The text from the Prophet Malachi positions the fear in which the encounter with the Transcendent One is properly viewed. The presentation in the Temple is also the presentation of the Immanent One who fulfills the Promise of being always present to the faithful. The life of humanity is presented with an invitation to be intimate with the Creator. The eternal is become incarnate in temporal flesh. The infinite is entering finite time. The bounds of living are presented as reaching to intimacy with the Divine through the indwelling Spirit. What a Presentation!