And the Lord You Are Seeking Will Suddenly Enter His Temple; and the Angel of the Covenant

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, also called Candlemas day. Candles are blessed today and we process with lit candles because Simeon called Jesus the light to the gentiles when Our Lord was presented in the temple.

The Mosaic Law prescribed 40 days after the birth of their first-born child-- parents were to go to the Temple of Jerusalem to offer the infant to the Lord in the service of the Lord and perform the ritual purification of the mother.

By an inspiration of the Holy Spirit, when Simeon saw Mary and Joseph with the Child Jesus, Herealized the Infant Jesus was the long awaited Messiah God promised him that he would see before his death. In the temple, Simeon as a priest of God, offered the Child to God, as a sacrifice to God the Father. He proclaimed Jesus as the "salvation" of humanity, a "light" for all the nations.

Jesus will declare His own body the temple. And in three days, after it is destroyed on the Cross, He will rebuild it, at His Resurrection. The new temple is therefore the body of Christ, the Church. From the Church, Jesus the Light of all the nations shines for all to see in order to save souls through the sacraments.

The Presentation of a Jewish child in the temple also included the purification of the mother of the child. After giving birth, women were considered impure and in need of purification, as though it was sinful to give birth. They were to make a sin offering, such as two turtle doves to atone for the impurity and restore women to purity.

The Blessed Virgin Mary did not need purification because She was conceived without sin and because the manner in which She gave birth was miraculous, not the ordinary way. Yet, out of humble obedience to the law, Mary did as the law prescribed.To fulfill the rite, Mary and Joseph gave the priests at the temple a couple of turtle doves or pigeons.

Today, our lit candles mean the Church encounters in faith the One who is "the light of men" and in order to bring this "light" into the world. At Baptism we received the light of Christ, lit from the paschal, symbol of the risen Christ in our midst. We are the light of Christ wherever we go and whatever we do. May the Virgin Mary help us to receive Her Son worthily in Holy Communion, Adore Him in Adoration and allow His light to shine through us into a world of darkness.