Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

By


Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Rector and Parish Priest
Don Bosco Shrine
Lingarajapuram, Bangalore

TODAY'S WORD

Luke: 2:22 "When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought Jesus up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord."


TODAY'S REFLECTION

Today we celebrate Jesus’ presentation in the Temple in Jerusalem by his parents, in accordance with the Jewish Law. 

In the opening chapters of his gospel, Luke portrays Jesus’ parents as faithfully observing the Jewish Law. 

In this way he wants to stress that the movement that became known as Christianity has its roots deeply in the Jewish faith. 

In the Jewish Scriptures, especially in the prophet Isaiah, Israel’s role was to be a light to the Gentiles, to reveal the light of God to the world. 

According to our gospel reading, the elderly Simeon, a devout Jew, recognizes Mary and Joseph’s child as the one who is to embody this calling of Israel. 

He is to be a light to enlighten the pagans, and in being faithful to this role he will bring glory to Israel. 

Simeon had spent his life looking forward to ‘Israel’s comforting’. 

When Mary and Joseph entered the Temple with their new born first child on that day, Simeon’s longings and hopes were brought to fulfilment. 

It has been said that Simeon has become the patron saint of those who, having found meaning at last in their lives, are able to let go and surrender to the Lord. 

His prayer of surrender has become part of the Night Prayer of the Church. 

We pray that prayer as people who have been graced by God’s light shining through Jesus. 

Like Simeon, we have come to recognize Jesus as the light to enlighten the pagans and the glory of Israel. 

We have candles blessed on this day; we light them and carry them as a sign of our joy of discovering Jesus as the light of the world.

Indeed, every time we light a candle in church or at home, we are acknowledging Jesus as the light of the world and we are also recognizing our own need for his gracious light as we struggle with the various forms of darkness in our lives.

Let's resolve on this feast, to open our lives and hearts afresh to what Saint John Henry Newman calls God’s ‘kindly light’ which has shone so abundantly upon us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Happy feast of the presentation of the Lord.

Let's pray for all the priests and religious as ghey keep their day of consecration.