Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple | February 2

Forty days after the birth of Jesus we mark the day Mary and Joseph presented him in the temple in accordance with Jewish law. There they were greeted by Simeon, an aged priest who offered the song “Lord, now you let your servant depart in peace,” as well as by the prophet Anna, who proclaimed the redemption of ancient Israel. The Presentation of our Lord is referred to in some corners of the Church as Candlemas because of an ancient tradition of blessing candles used in the church and in the home in the coming year during that Mass. It is a way of underscoring the truth of Simeon’s confession that Jesus was “a light for revelation to the Gentiles” and a light for glory to Israel. Let the light of every candle be a little epiphany of the love of God for all people in the person of Jesus, the light of the world.