Next week at our Masses we will be celebrating the
Presentation of the Lord. Each year on February
2nd, we celebrate the day when Mary and Joseph presented the infant
Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem. Two things actually happened on the 40th
day following the birth of a firstborn son of a Jewish family: the mother was
purified and ready to reenter the temple grounds after having been ritually
unclean for the period after giving birth. The son was then presented and dedicated
to the Lord at the Temple. For the presentation, sacrifices were offered to
God.
There’s an interesting history behind this practice
of presenting the son. It goes back to the Exodus and the plague of the death
of the firstborn that the Lord sent upon Egypt. All the firstborn sons in Egypt
were struck down on the night of Passover, except for the families of the
Israelites, whose homes were marked with the blood of the lamb, and the angel
of death passed over them. The lives of the firstborn sons of Israel were
spared. Because of that, all the firstborn sons of Israel were to be set apart,
holy, and consecrated to the Lord’s service.
Traditionally, the Presentation is when the candles
used in the Church for the year would be blessed. That is why this feast is often referred to
as “Candlemas,” also called “Candelaria” in Spanish. It is a wonderful
opportunity to celebrate Jesus who is Christ our Light. The feast is always celebrated on February 2nd,
and for the first time since 2003 falls on a Sunday. The celebration of the Presentation takes
precedence and next Sunday we will celebrate it instead of the 4th Sunday
in Ordinary time. Why tell you this
week? Because next week’s celebration is
special. There will be a candlelight
procession at each Mass and each of us will be given a candle which will be lit
and blessed. After Mass we will take our
candles home.
The new Roman Missal calls us to more fully enter
into the rites and rituals, seasons and movements, of our liturgical year. The celebration of the Presentation of the
Lord is just one of the ways in which we participate in the life of the
Church.