February 2nd is the date chosen by the Church to celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. When a significant feast day falls on a Sunday, the Church sets aside the readings for that normal week to celebrate the feast with these special readings:
The Word for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
Malachi 3:1-43
Psalm 24: 7, 8, 9, 10
Hebrews 2:14-18
Luke 2:22-40 or 2:22-32
While the Catholic Church today refers to this day as the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, traditionally it has also been called the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, Candlemas, the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin, and the Meeting of the Lord. Prior to the Second Vatican Council, Candlemas was a time where beeswax candles were blessed for use throughout the year, a tradition still followed in some parish communities. Today the celebration focuses more on the prophecy of Simeon, and Pope John Paul II chose it as a time for renewal of religious vows (not to be confused with priestly renewal of vows, which usually takes place at the Chrism Mass during Holy Week, or sometimes done as part of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday).
Our first reading comes from the Prophet Malachi. Coming from the mid-4th century BCE, Micah was a contemporary of Nehemiah’s speaking to a community that is now a few generations past the Israelite’s return from the Babylonian Exile. Malachi knows that the Lord loves Israel but is concerned that they aren’t returning that love sufficiently. In order to help the people see the correct path, he says in today’s passage that the Lord will send his messenger who will purify the people and make them again pleasing to the Lord. Not surprisingly, we Christians see Jesus as this messenger. Our Psalm joyously proclaims our anticipation as we sing, “Who is the king of glory? It is the Lord!”
Our second reading comes from the Letter to the Hebrews. Where Malachi has told us the mission of this new messenger, this passage from Hebrews has the author telling us why this messenger is worthy – in essence, because he came as one of us. This messenger, Jesus, who was tested and had suffered like us is in the best position to help us. Further, it was us – mere mortals and not angels – that he chose to help.
This takes us to our Gospel with a story that’s unique to Luke. Part of the infancy narratives, it tells the story of bringing the infant Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem, “when the days were completed for their purification.” There’s actually two reasons for this, first for the “purification,” a ritual for mothers as prescribed by Mosaic Law (thus the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin), but second, as this passage mentions, “every male… shall be consecrated to the Lord”. This should not be confused with the circumcision, which takes place 8 days after birth, but rather this takes place at the 40 day mark (yes, that same Biblical 40 days). These details, however, only serve to set the scene, because the real story here is when them meet Simeon the Righteous, an elder wiseman of the Temple who recognizes Jesus as the Messiah. If you get to hear the longer version of the Gospel, however, Simeon’s joy is overshadowed by a grimmer prophecy that anticipates his death. We also meet an old prophetess, Anna, who was the daughter of Phanuel, of the Tribe of Asher, who also accepts Jesus as the Messiah.
Final Thoughts:
What’s really going on with this Gospel story? Who are these old prophets and why is this story significant? And why do we have Luke, the evangelist to the Gentiles, giving us lessons on Mosaic Law (something you would expect more from Matthew)?
Without unpacking this too much, Luke is going to great lengths to convince his readers (and us) that Jesus was indeed to be who he said he was. Today’s Gospel serves to validate that Jesus is the Messiah for both the Jews and the Gentiles. A devout Jewish family, following ritual customs, yet whose home is in the former Northern Kingdom – the land of the Samaritans and the Gentiles. His prophecy was foretold by the scriptures (remember our first reading from Malachi?), and this prophecy was validated by both Simeon, an elder of the Temple (and likely a Levite), and by Anna from the Tribe of Asher, which was the Northern most of all the Tribes in the former Northern Kingdom which fell to the Assyrians. And this validation happens where? In Jerusalem, in the Temple, the center of Jewish worship. For Luke, these signs clearly point to Jesus as the man of prophecy and destiny.
Following the traditional calendar, the Solemnity of the Ascension falls on a Thursday, 40 days after the Resurrection, and 10 days before Pentecost. But since the Ascension is such an important moment for us as Church, many dioceses, including our own, have moved this celebration to this coming Sunday (in place of the 7th Sunday of Easter). The Word for the Ascension of the Lord Acts 1:1-11 Psalm 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9 Ephesians 1:17-23 or Hebrews 9:24-28, 10:19-23 Luke 24:46-53 Our first reading is from the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles. While it might be more appropriate that this reading should follow our Gospel reading for today (as it naturally follows after Luke’s Gospel), the book-end effect of these two readings remains intact, reminding us how this was a pivotal moment for the Church. Like most sequels, our reading opens with a recap of where we left off at the end of Luke’s Gospel with the Ascension of Jesus. Also like most sequels, this “recap” of t...
Comments
Post a Comment