I write to you on the feast of Candlemas Day (or, in the old calendar, the Purification of Mary, or in the new, the Presentation of the Lord), the glorious finale to the Christmas season. We just celebrated the solemn high Mass this morning with the blessing of candles and the procession around the church, imitating in a way the entry of the Holy Family into the Temple on that day when the Lord was ‘presented’ in fulfillment of Jewish law. Although there are no details given in the New Testament about the Jewish ritual that was observed at the time the infant Jesus was presented as a first-born son, yet other events of the day were carefully set down which give us food for thought.

What particularly grabs my attention today, aside from the things I spoke about in my homily this morning, are the words of prophecy that old Simeon spoke that day. How was it that an aged man could look upon this baby and see what must surely have escaped the notice of nearly everyone else–namely that this Child is the Light for the nations and the glory of Israel? (It reminds me of Saint Peter so much later who correctly identified the Lord as the Son of God, though no one else seemed to have known that.) Simeon must have been inspired by a prophetic revelation to be able to see beyond what his dim human vision could discern in the Infant.

But there was more to his prophecy than this. Simeon also foretold that Christ would cause the rising and the downfall of many, a sign that would be opposed. Again, there would be no natural explanation for this extraordinary knowledge apart from God revealing it to him. That our Lord would be ‘opposed’ reminds us of Saint Paul’s words that speak of the Lord as a stumbling block (literally a ‘scandal’) for faith.

Jesus raises up some (by His grace) and He makes others fall: both from the One and same Lord. Recognizing this declared fact of human reception or reaction to Christ, we ought not to be too much disturbed–though it is disturbing–when the faith we cherish is ridiculed and cast aside by others we want so much to embrace the faith. Yet it can be disheartening and agonizing because we know that salvation hinges on the acceptance of Christ. “A sign that will be opposed...” How we wish it were not so! We know that our efforts to bring Christ and His Church to others is most always not committed enough, but we also know that we can go only so far in being a cause of faith for anyone else. God invites many; some accept, some reject Him.

Often in my prayers I pray for the conversion of people to the Catholic faith. From my point of view, I can’t see how they can refuse to believe what is so cogent on the one hand and so attractive on the other. Even all the usual reason alleged for anti-Catholic bias can’t explain the abundant instances of opposition. I rather think that it is something inherent not in the Catholic faith but in the nature of sin that makes people turn a deaf ear to the message that would save them. If their refusal is a heartache to us whose love for others is limited (no matter how much we think we care about their welfare) what is it to the Lord Himself whose love is without measure?

At times I have thought that the Church was nearing a time when its inner attractiveness would cause a huge wave of conversions. Then some new obstacle emerges and the Church’s clear doctrine and her many other shining and inviting attributes are again cast in the shadows. Will the Church ever again have her day and her enemies be converted? Or must Christ and His Church always be the cause of “the downfall of many?”

Being a believer ought never to be such a matter of pride that one is glad that others are excluded from sharing in the grace of salvation. For some reason unfathomable, God has allowed us to be Catholics, to have the true faith, and to be the recipients of Christ’s grace. But we want all to be as fortunate. There is a great mystery in the doctrine of predestination: some will make it to eternal life while others will not. We are only bid to do our part and show them the way, pray for them and try to give good example. The rest is in God’s hands. Let us pray that Christ will yet be the cause of a great ‘rising’ of many to faith in Him and in His holy Catholic Church.

Fr. Perrone