2/2/2014 – Feast of the Presentation of the Lord – Luke 2:22-32, Malacai 3: 1-4

     Today, we celebrate the feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, rather than the 4^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, since this feast falls on a Sunday this year.  The Gospel of Luke records the way Mary and Joseph were faithful to God’s laws given to the Jewish people.  For all firstborn males, the mother of the child was required to refrain from all religious ritual practices for 40 days after the birth.  Then, she was required to offer a sacrifice to the Lord to give thanks for the birth of her child.  The normal sacrifice would be a lamb and a turtledove, but if the mother was poor, she could offer up instead a pair of turtledoves or young pigeons.  Mary and Joseph offer up 2 turtledoves, emphasizing that Jesus was born to a family of poor, simple people of deep faith.  This sacrifice made for the first-born Jewish son was done in memory of how God saved the firstborn of the Jews during the Passover in Egypt. The purification of the mother and the sacrifice for the firstborn son was not required to be in the Temple. However, Mary and Joseph wanted to fulfill all the prescriptions of the Jewish law in Temple in Jerusalem, where it becomes the means of offering the Son of God to the Father who sent him to us to be our Redeemer and our Savior. 

     The baby Jesus who was presented in the Temple by his parents is the messenger of the covenant whom the prophet Malachi foretold in our first reading.  The faith of Mary and Joseph brought them to the Temple that day to present their Son to God, to consecrate him to God in a special way.  The Spirit of the Lord led Jesus and his parents that day.  They were filled with the Spirit in a special way.  In Mexico, Catholics have a special tradition inspired by the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, as the parents present their child to the Lord in a mass, usually when the child is around 3 years old.  This presenting of a child to God, and to the faith community in the Church, stems from the parents’ desire to ask for divine protection for their child, and in thanksgiving for a safe childbirth.   In Mexico and a lot of other countries throughout the world, infant mortality rates are extremely high.  This custom began because parents wished to give thanks to God and the Virgin Mary for the survival and ongoing good health of their child.  Today, in our parish, members of our Hispanic community here at St James will present their 3 years old at mass in honor of this special feast day. The presentation is not one of the 7 Sacraments we recognize in our Church, but it is a special tradition by which these members honor God and live out their faith. 

      Today’s feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple often is referred to as “Candlemas” from Simeon’s prophecy in the Gospel that the baby Jesus being presented in the Temple would be a light of revelation to the Gentiles and glory for the people of Israel.  This is why we blessed the candles that we use in our Church in the beginning of mass today, why we asked parishioners to bring candles from home in order to be blessed.  We can see the light of these candles symbolizing the light of God living within us and manifesting itself in our good faith, good works, and good deeds.

      It is important for us to celebrate our Catholic traditions, to celebrate the ways of the faith that help lead us and guide us on our journey.  Last weekend at our youth CCD classes, a couple of the youth asked me why we have saints in our Church and why we celebrate them in a special way.  I tried to use an analogy that our children and youth might understand.  Think about the heroes we have in our lives when growing up, the people who represent to us the values we hold important.  I have this picture of Abraham Lincoln that my dad put up in my bedroom when I was born, a picture that was hanging up in my dad’s own bedroom when he was growing up.  I also had a Chicago Cubs pennant hanging up in my room as well – my parents and grandparents absolutely loved the Chicago Cubs.  The Church sees the saints as heroes of the faith for us, and more than that, a community of saints that helps us and guides us through its prayers and intercessions.  In conjunction with the candles that we blessed at the beginning of mass today, we are having the traditional blessing of the throats in honor of St Blaise, a saint whose feast day we celebrate on February 3 each year.  Blaise was a medical doctor who lived in the early 4^th century. When the Bishop of Sabastea in present-day Armenia died, Blaise was named to follow him as Bishop due to his great reputation for holiness, both in word and in example.  During a time of great persecution, Blaise was arrested and was being carted off to be put to death. While being led away, a distraught mother, whose only child was choking on a fishbone, threw herself at his feet and implored his intercession. Touched at her grief, Blaise offered up his prayers, and the child was cured.  Consequently, Saint Blaise is invoked for protection against injuries and illnesses of the throat, which is why we have this special blessing today.

     We recently ended our Year of Faith, in which we were called not only to a new evangelization, but we were called to celebrate the traditions and devotions of our Catholic heritage.  As we celebrate the faith of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in the feast of the Presentation of the Lord today, as we celebrate the example of faith that St Blaise lived in his life of holiness, may we all be inspired to live lives of faith in our own reality in a way that gives glory to God.