Word to the Wise
Sunday, February 2, 2020 - Feb. 2: The Presentation of the Lord
[Mal 3:1-4; Heb 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40 or 2:22-32]And suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek, and the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. [Malachi] "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 the sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel." [Luke]
From my childhood through my graduation from undergraduate school, I have little or no memory of the celebration of the feast of the Presentation. I knew the story because it provides the second mystery of the Joyful mysteries of the Rosary, but its significance was lost to me probably because the very next day we had the blessing of throats using candles that had been blessed the day before. Those candles, however, are the primary symbol of the feast of the Presentation and not of St. Blase!!! The meaning of the feast of the Presentation is focused on light, a light brought not only to the temple in Jerusalem but to all nations, as proclaimed in Simeon's "canticle" which is recited in the liturgical hour of Compline every evening throughout the Church, and quoted above.
The intention of the evangelist Luke is to show Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi not only to pious Jews like Elizabeth, Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, Simeon and Anna, but to show Jesus as the fulfillment of all human longing. The temple (which had been destroyed by the Romans in 70AD, before the probable composition of the Gospel According to Luke) receives a new light which cannot be confined to a building. (Processions with lighted candles are a traditional part of the celebration of this feast!)
The evangelist Luke gives us a different "epiphany" of the Lord. Jesus is revealed as the light of all nations and the fulfillment of all hopes, but, like Mary and Joseph, we need to bring his "light" to others. The lighted candle is a symbol of this. I am reminded of the motto of the Christopher Movement: "If everyone lit just one little candle, what a bright world this would be!" Our throats may be blessed the next day using those candles, but there is a much greater blessing to be proclaimed by those candles: Christ is our light!! AMEN