The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Candlemas Day
1. "They brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord...)" (Lk 2,22). Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Presentation of the Lord which occurs forty days after the birth of Jesus and is also known as Candlemas day, since the blessing and procession of candles is included in today's liturgy. She relives it with the astonishment of the Holy Family of Nazareth, enlightened by the full revelation of that "child", who - as the first and second readings have reminded us - is the eschatological judge promised by the prophets (Ml 3,1-3), the "merciful and faithful high priest" who came to "expiate the sins of the people" (Heb 2,17). The Child, whom Mary and Joseph lovingly brought to the Temple, is the Word Incarnate, the Redeemer of man and of history! Today, commemorating what took place on that day in Jerusalem, we are invited to enter the Temple, to meditate on the mystery of Christ, th...