Presentation of the Lord Year C

Malachi 3:1-4

Psalm 24:7, 8, 9, 10

Hebrews 2:14-18

Luke 2:22-40 or 2:22-32

Forty days after the celebration of Christmas, the Church celebrates the mystery of the Lord’s Presentation in the Temple. How important this mystery is for the Church can be perceived from the fact that its celebration takes precedence over the celebration of the Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, as is the case this year. The current setting of the celebration provides a variety of elements of different types that should enrich our spiritual life.

The first observation we can make, looking at the Gospel passage that describes the scene, regards the insistence on the Holy Family being faithful to the Hebrew Law (Torah). Their compliance with the law was not done as if being forced by an imposition. Rather, the term Torah means something like “instruction,” a sort of guidance that leads to life. 

We can better understand this by looking at the other two characters mentioned in the story, Simeon and Anna. Both of them were devoted people whose lives were focused precisely on the Torah. They, together with Joseph and Mary, belong to that group of people who maintained the messianic expectation. They were known as the anawim (poor/humble ones), and placed their hope in the fulfillment of God’s promises. The first reading makes us aware of this.

The entire scene is typical of the atmosphere present in the first chapters of the Gospel of Luke, which is one of joy. It is the presence of the Messiah that brings joy, not only to the Israelites but to the world. Simeon sings it in his canticle, and Anna takes care to involve others in the good news.

Simeon’s canticle makes a reference to the element of light, which is characteristic of today’s celebration. In fact, one of the traditional names of this feast is Candlemas because we can begin the celebration processing with lighted candles in our hands. Since the celebration of Christmas, the amount of light has increased during the days, a cosmic symbol of a spiritual reality. Simeon pointed it out when he said that the child would be “Light for the revelation to the Gentiles.”

The joyful atmosphere does not hide a profound aspect of the mystery, hinted at in the gospel but especially presented in the second reading. The presentation of first-born male Israelites was connected to the redemption instituted by Yahweh in Egypt, according to Exodus 13. In fulfilling the requirement, Mary and Joseph seem to have missed a stipulation of the law. In fact, Luke does not indicate that Jesus was redeemed by the payment of the five shekels mandated for “every living thing that opens the womb” (Numbers 18:15-16). Some scholars see in this apparent omission a veiled but deliberate reference to Jesus’ status: He did not need to be redeemed, but rather He came to redeem us. Thus, there is a deep connection of today’s mystery with the Offertory Rite in the Mass, the moment of the presentation of the gifts that will be Jesus Himself.

Therefore, we can understand why Blessed Concepción Cabrera de Armida, a Mexican mystic and a married woman and founder of the “Family of the Cross,” was particularly devoted to the mystery of the Presentation: “She recognized in this privileged mystery the fundamental attitude of the mystical and of the offering of love, the quintessence of the teachings of the Cross: the oblation of the Word to His Father and the total offering of self out of love in union with Christ, but through Mary’s hands. …” (Conchita: A Mother’s Spiritual Diary. Edited by Marie-Michel Philipon, O.P. Translated by Aloysius J. Owen S.J., p. 128). Thus, the candles also symbolize the oblation of the Incarnate Word consumed, as the candles, before God, represent the offering of Himself to His Father for His glory and for the salvation of men. The reading from the letter to the Hebrews stresses precisely the value of Jesus’ oblation of Himself on the cross. That was the form in which death itself came to be completely nullified. 

With the occasion of this feast, the Church instituted the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life. Therefore, it is an opportune moment to ask the Lord for those members of the Church who, following the prompting of the Holy Spirit and on the wake of Jesus’ example, consecrated their lives to the service of God and His people. 

In reality, we all are called to join Jesus and become participants in the redemption by presenting ourselves to God. The Offertory Rite offers us an excellent moment to do it, after the example of Jesus.