The Light in the Temple

Every February 2 the Church throughout the world celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, also known as the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is a very old feast in both the Eastern and the Western Church. In the West this feast is also known as Candlemas, because at Masses celebrated, candles are blessed in reference to the Gospel proclaimed that day, taken from St. Luke (2: 22-40), in which Simeon prays, “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.” The title of the Blessed Virgin May on this feast is Our Lady of Candelaria, for she is the candle that holds the bright flame of her Divine Son Jesus as they enter the temple forty days after His Birth.
 
The Presentation teaches us some very important lessons for our own spiritual life.
 
First, it is about the entrance of the Lord of Glory into His own temple or house. The temple in Jerusalem boasted of the place where the glorious Presence of the Lord abided. Each of our churches contains the Presence of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Just as He entered into His creation at the Incarnation (taking on our human flesh), He enters our churches on the altar in the Holy Eucharist (making His Sacred Body and Blood present) and abides in our tabernacles, waiting for us to come to adore Him.
 
Second, it is about the Lord Jesus being lifted up in the arms of the prophet Simeon as the Light of the World, not just for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles. The temple was the place where sacrifice to God was offered. This lifting up of the Infant Jesus prefigures His being lifted up on the Cross as the Lamb of God sacrificed for our salvation. In his Passion account, St. John cites the line from the Prophet Zechariah (12:10), “They shall look upon Him whom they have pierced.” When Mass is celebrated in our churches, the Sacrifice of the Cross is offered and the priest lifts up the Body and Blood of Jesus for all to see and in a gesture of offering Him to the Father. Like Simeon, we are invited to glory in the Light of Christ, the Lamb of God, true Priest and Victim for the whole world, in Whom we find meaning and purpose for our life and consolation for the sufferings of all people. Do we ever need that today!
 
Third, the Presentation teaches us about the Mother who not only bears the God-Man into the temple, but who is perfectly united with the Sacrifice of her Son. Simeon said to Our Lady, “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 as sword will pierce—so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed” (Lk 2: 34-35). Our Lord, His teachings, his Church, and His very Eucharistic Sacrifice and Presence will always be contradicted and opposed. His own Mother, who carried Him into the temple and who stood at the cross when He offered Himself as the Sacrifice of redemption, will be so united in love with His offering of Himself that her very being, her heart, will be pierced through with the sword of sorrowful love. She shows what true love is—a complete offering of self in union with the Savior. She who was given to us as our Motehr at the Cross teaches us how to be totally united with her Son’s act of sacrificial love. She teaches us how to love Him and live sacrificial lives for Him and one another.
 
My dear friends, this Feast of the Presentation is packed full of lessons for us and replete with the manifestation of Christ’s love. Let us follow the blessed admonition, “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” That, we should do every day.
 
Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh