Feast of the Presentation
Installation of Fr. Francis Ouma
Saint Joan of Arc, Aberdeen
February 2, 2025
Presentations
Just as in this Holy Mass we celebrate the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, so too we celebrate the official “presentation” of Father Francis Ouma as your pastor here at St. Joan of Arc, joined now with St. Patrick’s. Just as God knew and loved his Incarnate Son presented to him by Mary and Joseph in the Temple, so too, you already know, love, and respect Father Francis whom I am officially presenting to you as your pastor. What did it mean to present Jesus in the Temple? What does it mean to present Father Francis in this house of worship?
No Ordinary Event
To a casual observer, Mary and Joseph, as they came into the Temple that day, may have seemed like an ordinary couple. As prescribed by the Law, the presented their Son to the Lord, offering a pair of turtledoves as “redemption” for their Son – even though he was the One who would redeem the world by his saving death. At the same time, Mary, the Mother of the Lord, was “purified” – even though she is the pure and sinless Virgin who gave birth to the Savior.
To most people, what took place in the Temple that day seemed ordinary; but to Simeon and Anna, both filled with the Holy Spirit, it was an encounter with the long awaited Messiah. In the Infant Jesus they met the One sent by God to set his people free. When Simeon held the Baby in his arms, tears of joy welled up in his eyes. He told the Lord that he could now pass from this life because his eyes of faith had seen the One whom the prophets promised, the One who is “light of the world”. So too, light and joy flooded the soul of Anna the prophetess, for she beheld the One for whom she had prayed so long and so hard.
No Ordinary Installation
To a casual observer, this morning’s liturgy may seem ordinary. It is the usual 11:15 a.m. Sunday morning Mass, during which Father Francis is officially presented as your pastor. A casual observer may might say that his installation is no big deal since Father Francis already serves as your Pastor. Didn’t his “boss” show up belatedly just to confirm the appointment? The casual observer might also think that that Father Francis has been given a fairly ordinary job, to manage parishes. After all, there are more than 18,000 parishes in the United States.
But we are no casual observers. Like Simeon, we see something more in this morning’s event. Father Francis has been appointed Pastor. Together with Father Franz, he is a representative of the Good Shepherd, charged by the Church to teach, sanctify, and guide God’s people along the pathways of the heavenly Kingdom. Father Francis and Father Franz are charged to preach the same Word of Truth that Christ the Incarnate Word preached as he moved from village to village. They are empowered to forgive sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation just as Jesus forgave the sins of those he cured. Day by day, your priests are to offer the selfsame Paschal Sacrifice which the Savior of the World offered on the gibbet of the Cross. And like the Incarnate Son of God, Father Francis is called by the Church to be a pastor whose ministry is marked by utter dedication to the Father’s will and exquisite charity for the people his Son redeemed by his Blood.
Like Simeon, we rejoice because God is still at work in the life of his Church, still extending his saving love, still fulfilling his promises . . . still bathing us in the light of his glory! Like Anna, we rejoice because, through Father Francis’ ministry as Pastor, the Lord continues to bless his people who await his mercies.
The High Price of Redemption
But let us return to the pair of turtledoves Mary and Joseph offered for the “redemption” of their Son. It was a token offering, worth little by this world’s standards, but it symbolized the gift of one’s firstborn son to the Lord. Mary and Joseph are in fact presenting to God his only begotten Son who would offer himself for the redemption of the world. Simeon predicted as much. Rejoicing to hold the Incarnate Word in his arms, he told Mary that her heart would be pierced by the sword of sorrow, as surely it was. As Mary stood beneath the Cross and beheld her dying Son, she experienced with him a depth of sorrow like no other. For she mourned what Jesus mourned, the sins of the world.
Perhaps more than anything else, by word and example, and by his ministry, your pastor unveils for you the fathomless depths of God’s love for us, namely, that God would send his Son to become one of us so that he could die for us. The same sword of sorrow that pierced Mary’s heart must pierce your pastor’s heart and ours – not to shame us, not to make us ridden with guilt, but rather to open our hearts to the mystery of God’s love for us. With St. Paul we exult: “He loves me and he gave his life for me!” (Gal 2:20). This is the love poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This is the love that transforms us into disciples and missionaries, ready to share with others ‘the reason for our hope’ (cf. 1 Pet 3:15), ready to bear witness to the One who is “God from God and light from light”.
Your pastor is a wonderful priest and a great evangelizer. Yet, not even he can fulfill this mission alone. He needs you – his brother priest and deacons, lay staff, lay leaders, the parish school community, and you, the parishioners. He needs you to bear witness to the Lord. To form strong and loving families where the Faith is passed on to your children. To win back to the Faith those who have strayed, for whatever reason. Your pastor needs Simeon’s who proclaim and Anna’s who pray. Thus united as a family of faith – clergy and laity – may your parish shine forth as “a light brightly visible”, indeed, as “a light of revelation” for people in this time and in this place, for the praise and glory of the Triune God – the Father, the Son, & the Holy Spirit.