February 2, 2025
Luke 2: 22-40
What caught my attention as I began to read Luke’s Gospel for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on February 2 is that it is really a double feast! A forty-day old infant, was recognized as the Messiah by two elderly people, Simeon, the prophet and the prophetess, Anna. Their reason for being in the temple was to wait, to wait for the Messiah to come and to witness to Him as the promised one. Simeon and Anna were stand-ins for the people of Israel and for all of us, for we too are His people.
And on the same day, in the same place, on what became known in the church around the 8th century as the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the infant’s young mother, Mary, came to the temple with her husband, Joseph. As an observant Jewish woman, she came to be purified.
I’ve never believed that either Mary, my own mother or any mother was unclean because of the birth of her child. She was blessed! But until recently Mary along with so many other women submitted to the Mosaic Law requiring her to be purified following the birth of a child.
In both of these feasts, those gathered in the temple as witnesses to salvation history are the same. An infant who is the Messiah; a young husband and wife carrying doves, the offering of the poor; and an old woman and man who recognize new life and are ready to let go of their own lives. All are members of our community of believers.
And then these two feasts became three. In 1997, Pope Saint John Paul II attached the celebration of The World Day for Consecrated Life to the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. The crowd of witnesses continues to expand as we gather on this day to recognize the need for inclusion and for HOPE in a world which has too little of each.
Luke 2: 22-40
When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord,
“Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord, to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.”
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, He took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:
“Now, Master, you may 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.”
The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “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 will pierce– so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.
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.
The Gospel of the Lord
Meet Sister Maureen O’Brien, SNDdeN
