Feast of The Presentation of the Lord
A little while back, on Fr. Mike's post on memorization of Scripture, I mentioned some reflections that I drew for my own life and preparation for receiving the Eucharist from St. Luke's account of God's promise to Simeon and its fulfillment when St. Joseph and the Blessed Mother, carrying the Christ child, entered the temple for the purification ritual and the child's presentation.
Well, today, February 2nd, is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which celebrates this event. (Besides the Mass readings for the Feast, you can find also the Office of Readings for today over here.)
I was reminded of this fact when I decided to look at the entry for today in our now-Pontiff's book, "Co-Workers of the Truth". Clearly, a rich passage -- it's the fourth mystery of the rosary, after all -- I was intrigued by then-Cardinal Ratzinger's focus on how this event in the East is known as Hypapanti, or meeting. The encounter of Simeon and Christ. And Saint Sophronius, in the office of Readings, universalizes this, saying, "In honour of the divine mystery that we celebrate today, let us all hasten to meet Christ. Everyone should be eager to join the procession and to carry a light."
I'd be interested in other people's reflections on this Feast. And if you are looking for a way to enter into Scripture, besides Fr. Mike's original recommendation, consider spending some time each day with the readings that are part of the day's liturgy. It's not a bad way to start.
posted by JACK @ 12:35 AM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
To date, my only insight into the mystery of the Presentation is how Eucharistic it is. Jesus in the Temple is, of course, the same Jesus on our altars, but the very words used by Simeon could be used in the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and vice versa.
Not only is the Presentation a mystery of the rosary, but it's also celebrated daily in the Night Prayer of the Church in the recitation of the "Nunc dimittis" of Simeon (the Scriptural Rosary beautifully ties the Rosary back to its origin in the Liturgy of the Hours).
At Mass today, the priest told us that some of the candles blessed today (Candlemass) will be used tomorrow for the St. Blaise blessing of throats - when I was growing up, the feast of St. Blaise was the one that got my attention.
Fred
It's still dark here in Colorado Springs at 6:30 a.m., when I preside at a daily Mass at Holy Apostles. I turned off the lights in the daily Mass chapel and preached by the light of a single candle. In the semi-darkness, I linked the passage from the letter to the Hebrews that spoke of God sharing our humanity in Christ, and how Christ is the "light come into the world which the darkness has not overcome" precisely because everything He dies is the will of His Father.
Because we have been baptized into His life, given a sharing in the Holy Spirit, anointed priest, prophet and king as he was, we, too, are sent into the world as light - but only insofar as we make the will of our Father in heaven our own. With grace and our cooperation, that is possible. Sometimes we may ask, "what difference would that really make, in view of the many problems that face our world?" We may not see the effects we hope to see.
But if we are a light even only to one person in our lifetime, and if that person experiences the love, forgiveness, and healing that Christ desires to share with each one of us, that difference could have eternal consequences.
Then I blew out the candle. It was surprising even to me how dark the darkness became.
One light does make a difference.
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