The Hearts of Many Shall be Made Manifest

The Presentation of Our Most Blessed Lord is often one of those rosary mysteries overlooked by many Catholics. Of course, I am sure we all remember, whether in catechism classes or in the reading of scripture, how Simeon was moved by the Spirit to the temple and was promised by God that, “He was not to meet death, until he had seen the Christ Whom the Lord had anointed.” We may also recall how Simeon prophesied the “sword” which would pierce the heart of Our Blessed Mother, prefiguring Jesus’ mission on earth and His death on the cross.

But there is another, overlooked line from this passage of Luke’s recounting of the Presentation that is worth contemplating. 

Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and for the rise of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be contradicted. And so the thoughts of many hearts shall be made manifest (Luke 2:34-35). 

The entire life of Our Lord, in a way, was a contradiction. He was killed for being truthful. He was born of a Virign.  The King of the Universe, Who willingly took the hammer and nails of a carpenter as a Boy, would later freely accept the hammer and nails of the Cross.The Cross itself, as Fulton Sheen points out in his book, Life of Christ, acts as a final symbol of contradiction;

It was fitting, therefore, that He should die on a piece of wood in which one bar contradicted the other. The vertical bar of God’s will is negated by the horizontal bar of the contradicting human will.

Christ lived in humility as a contradiction to his own divinity. Why? To show us how to live.  The Jews who stood at the feet of Our Lord on Calvary did not want a contradictory Messiah when they cried, “Come down from that cross!” and, “ …let us see whether Elias will come to deliver him.” Those who rebuked our Lord desired a Messiah whose kingship would be on earth. They wanted a Messiah that would exalt himself as well as his followers, only to be faced with the words of our blessed Lord;

If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Matthew 16:24).

God was telling His creation that if you wish to be exalted, you must humble yourself. This contradiction is not accepted by all. Many are called and few are chosen. Once you recognize that humility is the only avenue to Christ, you are now at liberty to choose your own path. Just as the Pharisees at the foot of the cross denied Our Lord’s cross of humility, St. Longius, the Roman soldier charged with overseeing the Crucifixion, accepted it. 

Indeed this was the Son of God (Matthew 27:54).

And so the next part of Simeon’s prophesy comes to fruition. 

And so the thoughts of many hearts shall be made manifest.

Jesus came to Earth in order to test the hearts of men. Jesus came to exemplify the Father’s will, allowing man to judge for themselves if they desired to follow the path, or to disregard it. 

I am the Lord who search the heart and prove the reins: who give to every one according to his way, and according to the fruit of his devices (Jeremiah 17:10).

No one could enter into heaven unless the Judge had “proved their reins.” Christ, the Judge, opened the gates of heaven through the greatest act of humility in human history. To die for one’s friends. As any great leader would replicate, Christ commands us to live the life that He practiced. It is by this that he has separated the wheat from the chaff. One could no longer idly stand by and be silent after the Crucifixion.Once a person learns of the Life, Death, and Resurection, they must either choose to accept Christ and His cross, or grovel in their own conceit.

My friends, there is only one path that leads to eternal reward. Our Lord said it would be difficult, but everything that is good requires a level of difficulty. By His Life and Death, Christ showed us that prioritizing God’s Will over our own, leads to victory over death. 

Strive to enter by the narrow gate; for many, I say to you, shall seek to enter, and shall not be able.