Every year as I turn my calendar to February, I think of Margaret Loftus. Growing up, Margaret was a dedicated member of my parish and a part of my childhood experience of what it meant to serve the church. By the time I got to know Margaret, she was a retired, single woman who volunteered many hours over many years at the rectory. She never liked the spotlight. A constant presence at daily Mass, she always sat off to the side in one of the back pews. After Mass, she would slip into the sacristy and begin her daily routine of washing, ironing, and folding the altar cloths and the linens used for the celebration of the Eucharist.
Even as she became less mobile and could no longer walk the six blocks to the church, she continued her ministry of service. Someone would bring the bag of linens to her home, and Margaret would faithfully minister from her basement. Since her good friend Frances Reilly lived a few doors down from my house, I sometimes served as a go-between and would pick up the altar clothes and take them back to the rectory. Whenever I was called upon to carry the neatly folded bag, I felt as if I was somehow participating in a church ritual. I had a sense of the sacred, not because of the materials in the bag, but because such a holy woman as Margaret had entrusted me with this task.
I think of Margaret when the calendar turns to February because the second of the month is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. This event, forty days after Christmas, commemorates Mary and Joseph bringing their newborn baby to Jerusalem to be consecrated to the Lord according to Jewish custom. As the story unfolds, Jesus is embraced by two elderly people, Simeon and Anna. They not only represent the many Jewish people who waited for the Messiah for many centuries; they also represent the faithful people who spent their lives praying, serving, and trusting in God’s promise. The Gospel for the feast tells us that Simeon and Anna were righteous and devout, worshipping God night and day, never leaving the Temple.
Simeon and Anna continue to live on today. They are the elderly neighbors who go to church every morning. They are the grandparents who care for their family, who pray every morning and evening, who offer a rosary for our intentions, and who provide wisdom and support to the neighborhood. They are the single or widowed women and men who tend to the flowers in the sanctuary, vacuum the carpets in the vestibule, carefully fold the programs for the prayer service, and wash the linens in the rectory basement.
As I get older, I have learned to appreciate even more the life and lessons of Simeon, Anna, and Margaret Loftus. I realize that many people have given their lives to serving the Lord in quiet, small, and faithful ways. They do not want to hog the spotlight - they simply want to hold the “light of the world.” As the Church celebrates the Presentation of the Lord, may we also celebrate our common call to embrace Jesus, the true light that came into the Temple 2,000 years ago. May we recognize that this light continues to shine in our world and in our neighborhoods. It shines in the moms, dads, grandparents, and the Margarets that we encounter every day.
Fr. Jack Kolodziej, OSFS
Provincial
Wilmington-Philadelphia Province
