Liturgy of the Word:

Mal. 3:1-4 or Heb. 2:14-18;

Ps. 24:7, 8, 9, 10;

Lk. 2:22-40 or 22-32.

Today, we pray for the thousands of men and women who have dedicated themselves to God by the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. They serve silently within contemplative cloisters or actively in various apostolates, many in foreign missions. We pray for them with deep gratitude for their help and for walking with us in synodality towards the Kingdom of God.

Today is also the feast of “Nuestra Señora de Candelaria,” also known as Candlemas Day. Candles are blessed and carried in procession into the church to begin Holy Mass.  

The Feast of the Presentation of Jesus celebrates the time when Mary and Joseph presented Jesus at the Temple of Jerusalem 40 days after his birth. This was in obedience to the Torah (Lev. 12:6-8; Ex. 13:12-15; Nm. 18:15-15). They were to offer a sacrifice for the redemption of their firstborn. But since they could not afford a lamb, they sacrificed what was prescribed for the poor, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. St. Luke tells us that the ritual purification of Mary and the redemption of her firstborn took place on the same day. This is why today’s feast was earlier called the Purification of Mary.

The feast of the Presentation of the Lord is among the most ancient feasts of the Church, attested by the 4th-century sermons of Saints Methodius and Cyril of Jerusalem. 

Gospel, Lk. 2: 22-40. Two directives of the Mosaic law serve as a background. Lv. 12:2-8 states that the woman who gives birth to a boy is unable for 40 days to touch anything sacred or to enter the temple area by reason of her legal impurity. Ex. 13:2, 12; Nm. 18:15-16 prescribes: “consecrate to me every firstborn.” “You will dedicate to the Lord every firstborn male.”

So Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to the Temple of Jerusalem. For Mary’s ritual purification, they offered the sacrifice of 2 turtledoves or 2 young pigeons (vv. 22-24), since they were too poor to sacrifice a lamb. Mary is, of course, sinless and not in need of purification. Yet she humbly submits to the law.

At that time, Simeon “came in the Spirit into the temple.” He was “righteous and devout... and the holy Spirit was upon him.” The holy Spirit had revealed to him “that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord”(vv. 25-26). When Mary and Joseph entered, Simeon took Jesus into his arms and blessed God, saying: “Now, Master, you must let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel” (vv. 27-32). 

Mary and Joseph were again astounded to hear words similar to those they had heard in the past few weeks. Simeon blessed them but said to Mary, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted, and you yourself a sword shall pierce, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (vv. 33-35). How difficult it must have been for Mary to hear that suffering for her and her son lay ahead.

The prophetess Anna is also prompted by the Spirit, after a faithful life of prayer and fasting, to recognize the Child for whom “all who were waiting for the redemption of Israel” sought (vv. 36-38). “When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him” (vv. 39-40).

Both Simeon and Ann saw in a tiny, newborn baby the hope of the whole world. While Simeon and Anna rejoiced in seeing the fulfilment of their Messianic hope, they left Mary and the Infant Jesus a message of suffering, joy and hope. 

Suffering, hope, and joy — these are the horizon of our earthly life. Our sufferings in all spheres of life are legion. But there is joy in God’s constant love for us. And our pilgrimage of immense hope to God continues to be illumined by Christ, the light of the world. 

Prayer — Almighty ever-living God, we humbly implore your majesty that, just as your Only Begotten Son was presented on this day in the Temple in the substance of our flesh, so, by your grace, we may be presented to you with minds made pure. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.