Presentation of the Lord

Next week at our Masses we will be celebrating the Presentation of the Lord.  Each year on February 2^nd, we celebrate the day when Mary and Joseph presented the infant Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem. Two things actually happened on the 40^th 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 2^nd, 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 4^th 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.