PRESENTATION – 2014 Someone once told me that Father Bernard Basset, a Jesuit theologian who died in 1988, invented the “Noonday Devil” in a little book that he published in 1964. One quick check, however, of amazon. com, and I learned that at least two other people published books on this guy back in 1951 and 1957, and that since 1968 at least six other people have published book about him. So, Father Basset did not invent the “Noonday Devil,” who by the way seems to be pretty popular guy. So is he? Who is this “Noonday Devil? Well, he doesn’t have horns, he doesn’t have a tail and he doesn’t live in a hot climate either. He’s a part of us. He’s been around the block a few times and he’s got a pretty good idea of what’s possible and what’s not possible. He’s not necessarily a cynic, but he’s certainly is a realist, and he knows all about what, for lack of a better term, we can just call diminished expectations, or perhaps more appropriately on this Feast of the Presentation, the dimming of the lights. A couple of months ago I had a conversation with a lawyer – it seems I talk to a lot of lawyers – who had been talking with the “Noonday Devil.” It was about law school and how idealistic he was back then. Since, then, however, he’s learned that there’s a limit to what law or any institution can do in a world that’s so caught up in the effects, the long term effects, of Original Sin. Now it’s all about his clients and his cases: being prepared, trying to act ethically and learning to live with settlements where justice is at best problematic, but also cheaper than going to trial, in short, the dimming of the lights.
I’ve had doctors tell me the same thing. Medical school was about science, healing and helping, and now they’re dealing with insurance companies, HMOs, lawyers, and endless forms for Medicare and Medicaid. Again, the dimming of the lights. Teachers, I’m told, can fall into the same mindset. They begin with excitement, excitement about teaching and learning, and then they start to realize that not everyone shares their excitement and so, over time they slack off and wind up doing a job, rather than living a dream. Again, the dimming of the lights. Enter Anna and Simeon, two light-bearers. They’ve been hanging around the Temple now for a long time. They come here every day and all they pray about is the redemption of God’s people. They’ve lived their entire lives, or at least their entire adult lives, waiting for this one thing. That hope, that vision, it drives everything. It’s what they’re about and they cannot, and will not, settle for anything less. And so they never quit. They never compromise. They’re always looking, always waiting, always longing. No dimming of the lights here! Back in the seventh century St. Sophronius – a monk, a poet, a theologian and a patriarch - gave a famous homily about the feast we celebrate this evening/morning, the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. This is part of what Sophronius said. The Light has come and has shone upon a world enveloped in shadows. The Dayspring from on High has visited us and given light to those who lived in dark- ness. . . . Let us all, brothers and sisters, be enlightened and made radiant by this Light. Let us all share in its splendor and be so filled that no one remains in the darkness. Let us be shining ourselves, as we go together to meet and receive with the aged
Simeon the Light whose brilliance is eternal. Rejoicing with Simeon, let us sing a hymn of thanksgiving to God, the Father of Light, who sent the true Light to dis- pel the darkness and give us all a share in his splendor. In the rite of baptism the priest or deacon lights a candle from the Easter Candle and gives it to a sponsor or godparent. If the person to be baptized is an adult, he says “You have been enlightened by Christ. Walk always as a child of the light and keep the flame of faith alive in your heart. When the Lord comes, may you go out to meet him with all the saints in the heavenly kingdom.” If the baptized person is a child, the priest or deacon addresses the parents and godparents and says “This child of yours has been enlightened by Christ. He is to walk always as a child of the light. May he keep the flame of faith alive in his heart. When the Lord comes, may he go out to meet him with all the saints in the heavenly kingdom.” Anna and Simeon got it right. They kept the Light alive. That’s why we honor them on this Feast of the Presentation. Walk always as a child of the light and keep the flame of faith alive in your hearts, and stay away from the “Noonday Devil.”
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