Every
seven years we have the opportunity to celebrate this beautiful liturgical
feast on Sunday. Today is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, a moment that
reflects the one light of Christ from different angles and in different ways.
Historically the feast has been known by different names, each stressing a
different aspect of the same mystery, but mainly the mystery that God has
chosen to dwell among us. Forty days after the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
traveled to Jerusalem to present him at the Temple[1].
This was the first time Jesus entered the temple that years later he would
cleanse of merchants with great zeal[2]. The same temple where he would teach
his disciples and challenge the Pharisees. The same temple where Judas would receive thirty silver
coins in return for his betrayal[3].
Mary and Joseph presented Jesus with grateful hearts and offered the sacrifice
prescribed by the Law of Moses for the poor: two young pigeons. God fulfills
the prophecy of Malachi when Simeon identifies the child as the awaited
Messiah. Simeon’s words at first are joyful and triumphant, “the child is a
light for revelation, the glory of Israel,” but then he turns to the Blessed
Mother and his tone becomes somber speaking of suffering and sacrifice: “this
child will be contradicted and a sword will pierce your heart.”[4]
So, this feast invites us to celebrate with Simeon that all prophecy has been
fulfilled, while at the same time, it invites us to remember that Jesus was
born to die as a sacrifice for our sins. Two deep mysteries! For centuries this
feast was known as the Purification of the Virgin Mary, an event we also
commemorate today. When a Jewish person had direct contact with blood, the
person became unclean and he or she had to undergo religious rites to be
purified. When women give birth,
obviously they have contact with blood.
The Book of Leviticus prescribed that forty days after giving birth a
woman had to be ritually cleansed. Today, forty days after Christmas Day, we
commemorate that the Blessed Mother faithfully followed the Law of Moses and
was purified. She who was
conceived pure, without the stain of sin, obediently offered the called for
sacrifice of two pigeons. This feast invites us to ponder how the Blessed
Mother faithfully followed the Law of Moses and went to the Temple with her son
to be purified. Today’s feast has also been called Candlemass throughout the
centuries, a celebration of light (or candles). This feast invites to recognize Jesus as the light that has
come into the darkness to destroy sin and death. The one light of Christ is
reflected from different angles and in different ways today. The light that shines forth from the
mystery that God has chosen to dwell among us cannot be contained. All is renewed, all is transformed, all
things are different because God has become man. The joy of knowing the
Messiah, the sorrow of recognizing he will be sacrificed, the blessedness of
his mother and his perpetual light that dispels the darkness; all converge on
this feast forty days after his birth. Our Mother the Church never ceases to
proclaim the mystery that God has become man. The Church never ceases to
proclaim that our God who created all things has emptied himself to become like
one of his creatures. As a candle offers itself as a sacrifice to give us pure
light, ceasing to exist as its wax melts away, slowly and selflessly dying as
it shines for others to have light, so too Our Savior is a light that offers itself
in sacrifice so that others may have life. Let us notice that candles always
accompany the altar of sacrifice, burning themselves to death as a sacrifice,
reminding us of the One who died so that we could have life. May the Lord in
his mercy and compassion give us his grace to be candles of his light, dying to
ourselves, so that the light of Christ may shine brightly in us • AE
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