Feast of the Presentation of our Lord
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to Fr. Anthony Kadavil, commemorates how Jesus, as a baby, was presented to God in the Temple in Jerusalem. This presentation finds its complete and perfect fulfillment in the mystery of the passion, death and Resurrection of the Lord. The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is a combined feast, commemorating the Jewish practice of the purification of the mother after childbirth and the presentation of the child to God in the Temple and his buying back (redemption) from God. It is also known as the Feast of the Purification of Mary, the Feast of Candlemas and the Feast of Encounter (Hypapánte in Greek) because the New Testament, represented by the baby Jesus, encountered the Old Testament, represented by Simeon and Anna.
This Feast emphasizes the importance of witnessing to God. In our gospel reading today, we can see how Simeon and Anna witnessed to the Lord in front of everyone in the temple pointing out that the baby Jesus was going to bring about the redemption and salvation of Israel. Today’s Feast is a reminder for us to pay attention to our duty of witnessing to the Lord in our world.
Witnessing according to the English dictionary is the ability or capacity to have knowledge of (an event or change) from personal observation or experience. From a religious perspective, witnessing is the ability or capacity to declare our belief in God or religion. My dear friends, how have we witnessed to God or how are we witnessing to God in our world today? Firstly, we are called to witness to God in the example of Mary and Joseph in the gospel reading. Mary and Joseph by offering Jesus to God in the temple as prescribed by the Jewish law invites us to renew our dedication to the Lord by offering ourselves to Him. Renewing our dedication to the Lord means offering Him our entire self, our whole being, our thoughts, our works and everything we are and do, so as to be faithful disciples and true children of God.
Secondly, the procession of or with candles in today’s liturgy or lightning and blessing of candles symbolizes how the life of each Christian should give light to others thereby calling us to be true witnesses of Christ. So as God’s children and disciples of Christ, we are called to witness to Him by being the light of Christ, then share and show Him to the world in our thoughts, words and actions. Hence, it is our duty to witness to God always by proclaiming and living out that salvation and redemption we have received and continue to receive in our lives daily.
My brothers and sisters, let us continue to work hard everyday in our spiritual lives by witnessing to God. Let us strive daily to renew our dedication to God by offering Him our entire being, thoughts, works and everything we are and do. Let us be the light of Christ today by sharing and showing Him to the world in our thoughts, words and actions and continue to witness to God by proclaiming and living out that salvation and redemption we have received and continue to receive from Him daily in our lives.
