The Light That Comes To Us
"When the days were completed for the purification according to the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord just as it is written in the law of the Lord" (Lk. 2:22-23a). On February 2nd, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Mary and Joseph carried and brought Jesus to the Temple. Later on, the twelve year old Jesus would stay back in the Temple after Passover where He famously said to Mary, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" The Temple would also be where Jesus drove the money changers away and foretold His Resurrection saying "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up."
At the Presentation the righteous man Simeon was patiently waiting for Jesus, the "consolation of Israel," the "Christ of the Lord." When he saw Mary and Joseph bringing Jesus in, Simeon took Jesus in his arms and blessed God. Simeon was holding the Light of the World, the Redeemer, the "Consolation of Israel, the Son of God. Imagine what that must have felt like. The privilege of holding Jesus in your hands and cradling Him and embracing Him. I think of the times when I held my nephews and niece (and now my baby niece) when they were babies. The look on a baby's face, the look of pure joy, makes you feel warm inside and it gives you a desire to want to do more and to do better for the baby's sake. Similarly, doesn't reflecting upon and meditating on the face of Jesus, gazing upon Him in the Eucharist, and seeing Him in the other make you want to do better? Doesn't the feeling of and knowing that you are so loved make you want to do better?
The Presentation makes me think of the Visitation when Mary, conceived with Jesus by the Holy Spirit, traveled to be with her cousin, Elizabeth who was pregnant with John the Baptist. It was Mary who carried Jesus, the Light of the World, to Elizabeth. About a year later, Mary carried the newborn Jesus into the Temple and Simeon recognized that He was "a light for revelation to the Gentiles." Mary and Joseph brought Jesus, the Light of the World to the peoples, and they will lead us to the Light again today. It is Jesus who comes to us. Moreover, we who have been baptized and have received the Eucharist, we too carry this Light. May we, like Mary and Joseph, willingly, joyfully, and ungrudging allow this Light to shine and bring this Light to others.
Father, teach me to gaze upon the face of Christ and to contemplate the mystery of our faith. Allow me to see You in the other and to always allow Your Light to shine from within me, so that others may see that all that I do and say is for Your glory, and that Your glory comes from man being fully alive, from man loving you and one another and living life to the fullest - the gift Your Son brings to us.
At the Presentation the righteous man Simeon was patiently waiting for Jesus, the "consolation of Israel," the "Christ of the Lord." When he saw Mary and Joseph bringing Jesus in, Simeon took Jesus in his arms and blessed God. Simeon was holding the Light of the World, the Redeemer, the "Consolation of Israel, the Son of God. Imagine what that must have felt like. The privilege of holding Jesus in your hands and cradling Him and embracing Him. I think of the times when I held my nephews and niece (and now my baby niece) when they were babies. The look on a baby's face, the look of pure joy, makes you feel warm inside and it gives you a desire to want to do more and to do better for the baby's sake. Similarly, doesn't reflecting upon and meditating on the face of Jesus, gazing upon Him in the Eucharist, and seeing Him in the other make you want to do better? Doesn't the feeling of and knowing that you are so loved make you want to do better?
The Presentation makes me think of the Visitation when Mary, conceived with Jesus by the Holy Spirit, traveled to be with her cousin, Elizabeth who was pregnant with John the Baptist. It was Mary who carried Jesus, the Light of the World, to Elizabeth. About a year later, Mary carried the newborn Jesus into the Temple and Simeon recognized that He was "a light for revelation to the Gentiles." Mary and Joseph brought Jesus, the Light of the World to the peoples, and they will lead us to the Light again today. It is Jesus who comes to us. Moreover, we who have been baptized and have received the Eucharist, we too carry this Light. May we, like Mary and Joseph, willingly, joyfully, and ungrudging allow this Light to shine and bring this Light to others.
Father, teach me to gaze upon the face of Christ and to contemplate the mystery of our faith. Allow me to see You in the other and to always allow Your Light to shine from within me, so that others may see that all that I do and say is for Your glory, and that Your glory comes from man being fully alive, from man loving you and one another and living life to the fullest - the gift Your Son brings to us.
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