Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3: With Abram (later called Abraham) in chapter 12 of Genesis, a new biblical history begins. It is  separated from the past history of Adam, Noah and the rest by several generations of proto-patriarchs, each of whom gets only  one sentence in Genesis. Abraham was the first of God's people to migrate to the future Promised Land. The drama of his becoming a father is as important as his journey and his destination. The story of Sarah, Abraham and Isaac is just right for proclamation on a day when the Church meditates on the Holy Family of Nazareth and our family lives. Abraham had been following God's orders as described in the three chapters of the book of Genesis. He was rich and powerful, but he was still childless, even though God had promised, at the beginning of Abraham's journey, to make of him "a great nation." Abraham wanted a son more than anything else he might have from God, and he told God so. 

SOURCE: Fr. Tony's Homilies / Used with permission

Second reading:Hebrews 11:8, 11-12:Paul wrote this letter to the Jewish Christianswho had accepted Jesus as the fulfillment of their people's ancient hopes. But the majority of Jews rejected these converts. The purpose of the letter was to help the Christian Hebrews both to bear rejection and ostracism by their Jewish relatives and to bolster their new faith in Christ.  So the first several chapters explain how Jesus and their relationship with him amply replace the sanctuary, sacrifices and priesthood of Judaism. Today's passage comes from a section of the letter where the author appeals to the example of great heroes of faith known to the Hebrews, especially their patriarch Abraham, who appears in today's first reading. Paul praised Abraham first for having the faith required to migrate trusting God blindly. He went on to say that by faith Abraham became a father astonishingly late in life. Thirdly, God tested Abraham's faith by asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac, though He stopped the sacrifice as soon as Abraham began to obey so that Isaac survived. Abraham's story gives us an opportunity to enlarge our notion of family and of holiness. Abraham's story was never merely about the nuclear family to which many moderns in the west are so devoted. Abraham's story began the saga of a nation, a people, or, we might say, a proto-church that went beyond kinship, that acknowledged one Father, and saw all humankind as sisters and brothers. Thus Abraham is presented as an exemplar of the call to embrace a more universal family.

SOURCE: Fr. Tony's Homilies / Used with permission

Exegesis: Purification and redemption ceremonies: Today’s gospel describes how Joseph as the head of the Holy family of Nazareth presented Mary and the Baby Jesus in the Temple of God for the mother’s purification and the child’s “redemption.” The Mosaic Law taught that since every Jewish male child belonged to Yahweh the parents had to “buy back” the child (“redeem”) by offering lambs or turtledoves as a sacrifice in the Temple. In addition (Numbers 18: 15), every mother had to be purified after childbirth by prayers and an offering made to God in the Temple. Joseph observed these laws as an act of obedience to God. 

The encounter with Simeon and Anna:   By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the old, pious and Spirit-filled Simeon and Anna had been waiting in the Temple for the revelation of God’s salvation. Simeon recognized Jesus as the Lord’s anointed one and in his “Now You may let Your servant go in peace” prayer of blessing he prophesied that Jesus was meant to be the glory of Israel and the light of revelation to the Gentiles. While he blessed Mary he warned that her child would be “a sign of contradiction” and that she would be “pierced with a sword.” Simeon was prophesying the universal salvation that would be proclaimed by Jesus and the necessity of suffering in the mission of the Messiah. 

SOURCE: Fr. Tony's Homilies / Used with permission