FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD
First Reading - Malachi 3:1-4
Gospel - Luke 2:22-40
The feast of the Presentation of the Lord reminds me of the great event of our consecration to God at our Baptism as Catholics and many others also as religious, priests, consecrated men and women. The readings of today remind us that our consecration must lead us to encounter God in our lives.
The first reading speaks about the coming of the Lord to the temple. The phrase "the coming of the Lord" evoked in the mind of every Jew a terrifying image as it involved the judgement of the Lord. The prophet demonstrates such image to warn the priests against their immortal life and lack of spiritual fervor. The prophet predicts a kind of renewal and purification of the temple which would occur by the visit of the Lord.
The gospel presents the episode of the coming of Joseph, Mary and Joseph to the temple to fulfill the law of purification as enjoined by the law of Moses. The "purification" contained three elements: Mary's purification (Lev. 12:6-8), which involved a sacrifice being offered at the Nicanor Gate in the court of the women; the redemption of the firstborn son (Ex. 13:1-2), which involved five shekels (Nb. 3:47-48) and which Luke did not mention; and the consecration of the firstborn son (1 Sam. 1:11). The purification usually would take place 40 days after the birth of the son.
The important parts of the episode entails the purification of Mary, redemption and consecration of Jesus, and encounter of the righteous and devout Simeon and Ann with the baby Jesus.
Dear friends, the striking parts for today's reflection can be zeroed in on the three words as pertinent to the feast of today: purification, consecration and encounter. The word "purification" means cleansing from the impurities and this is what is required of us that we need everyday to make efforts to cleanse ourselves from our impurity of thoughts, words and actions. This cleansing or purification would gel together with the prophecy of Malachi, cited in the first reading, regarding the renewal or purification of the temple which Jesus and Paul symbolically use for the human body. Therefore, the purification of temple is connected to our temple too that is our body. This leads us to the second word that is "consecration". The word consecration refers to something or somebody being set apart for God and His purpose. The purpose of consecration is to belong to God in totality. It's by our being cleansed from our impurities, we can, in a real manner and in totality belong to God and also will be able to "encounter" Him. Once we are consecrated to God, we also will have the joy of encountering the salvation in Jesus as Simeon and Ann who devoted their lives to God and awaited the coming of the Messiah and ultimately encountered him. Let's make every effort to purify ourselves so that we may totally belong to God and encounter Him in our daily life and in His glory at the end of our earthly life.
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