According to the old custom, the Christmas season is over with today’s celebration. We traditionally call this feast on second February as Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. This day is called as the feast of the Presentation of the Lord because today we remember the Jewish tradition of presenting the firstborn male to the temple as a sacrifice to the Lord. Jesus, as the firstborn male, was brought by his parents according to Jewish custom to the priest in the temple as a sacrifice to God.
This feast is also known as the Purification of Mary. It commemorates that Mary and Joseph offered a purification sacrifice in the Temple 40 days after the birth of Jesus. The reason is the Jewish belief that a woman was considered unclean for 40 days after the birth of the firstborn son. Since the 4th century, this feast has been celebrated with a candlelight procession. From that tradition this feast got the name Candlemas. This feast is celebrated in the Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican, Coptic and Syrian Orthodox Churches on February 2nd and in the Armenian Church on February 14th.
The presentation of Jesus in the Temple shows us that Mary, Joseph and Jesus lived according to the Jewish faith and respected Jewish traditions and customs. The presence of the prophet Simon and the prophetess Hannah and their words convince us that the prophetic traditions of the Old Testament and the work of the Holy Spirit from the beginning of human history are still active and continue to work in the New Testament and today too. The revelation of God in human history and the revelation in Jesus Christ belong together. In that continuity of revelation we experience God in Jesus; namely in his life, in his words and in his actions, in his person.
Simon’s words about Jesus that his eyes saw salvation can also move us to confess that we experience salvation in Jesus and that we want to witness it and proclaim it to our fellow human beings. Simon talks about Jesus as light, which Jesus himself said about himself later. “I am the light of the world“. Jesus is the light of the world. This light, Jesus Christ, can illuminate our inner light so that we can have our body, soul, thoughts, feelings and abilities cleansed with the light of God and we can shine as a light to the world. We recognize this light and want to be illuminated by this light.
The light reminds us of God and the inner light that we all have within us. Let the light of God shine within us and may the power of the light of God purify us.
Fr. Joseph Pandiappallil MCBS