A Jewish custom in Jesus’ time required Mary and Joseph bring their child to the Temple 40 days after birth. Today we remember and celebrate that event, The Presentation of the Lord, a.k.a Candlemas day and the Feast of the Meeting.
When they went to the Temple, they met two deeply devout and prayerful people, Simeon & Anna, and they represent a link between the Old and the New Covenant. In our Reading from Malachi, we heard about refiner’s fire, it points to purification. Jesus did not need purification, but we do.
The Letter to the Hebrews teaches us that the Savior, the Messiah is “merciful & faithful.” In Lukes’ Gospel account Simeon holds Jesus in his arms and prays. “Now, Master, let your Servant go in peace … my eyes have seen Your salvation ….” Anna offered her thanks to God because this child was the long-awaited Messiah.
The Canticle of Simeon is prayed throughout the world every night in the Church’s Liturgy of the Hours. Christ is the Light of the World and as His disciples we are His lamps charged with shining His Light in the world’s darkness. Our actions, our words, our lives need to burn brightly so Jesus’ Message is seen in the world.
Faith has many facets, among them are: Believing, Knowing, Learning and Thirsting for the Lord. How are you doing with those elements of your faith? When Jesus was born the Temple was forlorn, so the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple is profound and significant because the Jewish Temple was without of its most important possessions: the Ark and God’s presence in the Holy of Holies. When Mary and Joseph bring Jesus, they bring God’s presence, the Word made flesh, the Consolation of Israel, the long-awaited Messiah into the Temple. *
Occasionally it is worthwhile to reflect on our discipleship. One day, a man, was reading the morning paper [to his astonishment and his horror] he read his [own] obituary. His brother had died and the newspaper mistakenly published his obituary. The headline was “Dynamite king dies” & in the text he was called the “Merchant of death.” The description stunned him and from that day on he devoted his life to human betterment and peace. That man was Alfred Noble and today he is known for establishing the Noble Peace Prize. [Bausch, 60 More Seasonal Homilies]
This story about Josephine might help us be better disciples. Josephine and her family moved to California when she was in 3rd grade. The bus picked her up, and all the other children and dropped her off at the end of the day. When she got off the bus her brother greeted her by their fence. He was a year or two older than Josephine, but he did not go to school. Some of the kids on the bus laughed and made fun of him. To their surprise Josephine was not embarrassed but hugged her brother. Then, they would walk hand and hand into their house.
Although a little girl Josephine learned the lesson of Jesus’ love and compassion; [probably from her parents]. By the end of the school year many of the children on her bus stopped making fun of her brother – showed kindness and compassion. Some children who rode that bus grew up to be compassionate & loving adults, in part because of Josephine’s example. Today, take some time to write your own obituary, as you reflect on your life, as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
May God Be Praised.
*Kelly Latimore at: https://kellylatimoreicons.com/
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