Posts Tagged ‘Luke 2:22-40’
Jesus Who Comes – Br. Lain Wilson
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Br. Lain Wilson
The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple
Today we commemorate a feast of many names: the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple, the Purification of the Saint Mary the Virgin, Candlemas, and the Hypapante, or “meeting.” But set amid other scenes of angels and miraculous pregnancies and wise men and voices from heaven, the events celebrated today can easily get lost.
These events are, on one level, commonplace. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus would’ve been just one family of many who made the same journey to fulfill the same religious obligations, even that same day. They could’ve been just one among many who could only afford a pair of turtledoves for sacrifice. This story could be the story of any number of young boys in first-century Israel-Palestine.
But of course, this isn’t the story of any number of young boys, but of one particular boy. Read More
Light Shine – Br. Luke Ditewig
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Br. Luke Ditewig
Presentation of our Lord
I didn’t know what it was at first, a small movement caught my eye. In the dusk at Emery House, across the field in the chapel beyond, the flame of a single candle flickered. Small yet powerful it was visible much further than I expected. The Light of Christ. Thanks be to God.
Today we celebrate the Presentation of Jesus in the temple, forty days after Christmas. The law of Moses gave rituals for the new child and mother forty days after birth. Mary and Joseph went to the temple for these. They were amazed by two patient, persistent, long-faithful saints, Simeon and Anna. Over a long life, they trusted God’s promises and looked forward with hope These two were gifted to recognized Jesus as the Messiah and spoke about him, praising God.
Imagine an elderly man holding an infant with joy. Simeon rejoices not in what he accomplished but in God’s actions by coming in Jesus and letting Simeon witness. Like Mary’s Magnificat, Simeon’s prayer Luke records as a prayer for the church. We end Compline, our bedtime prayer, with The Song of Simeon. Mary responded to the angel’s news that she would bear Jesus by saying “Let it be with me according to your word.” Here Simeon prays the same line. “You are dismissing me” or “you have set me free according to your word.” Accepting the impossible and the natural, that the Savior of the world comes as an infant and to them. Anna, a prophet devoted to prayer shows long commitment and insight echoing Hannah, mother of Samuel. Read More
Lead kindly light – Br. Geoffrey Tristram
Br. Geoffrey Tristram
Today we celebrate the Presentation of our Lord in the Temple, or Candlemas. It has a particular resonance for me, because Candlemas was the last Sunday that I spent in my parish in England before coming to the United States. I remember the very mixed feelings I had during that final service. On the one hand looking back with thanksgiving and celebration, but on the other, looking forward with a certain degree of trepidation.
And I think the feast of Candlemas has a similar liturgical function in the Christian year. On the one hand, we look back on this day, to the forty days of light and rejoicing which we have been celebrating during Christmas and Epiphany. But on the other hand, we are forced to look forward with some trepidation, to anticipate the events of Christ’s forty days in the wilderness, his passion and his death.
This bitter-sweet character is articulated by Simeon, on the day that Mary and Joseph brought Jesus into the Temple to be presented to the Lord. As he takes the child into his arms, he utters that great peon of praise, ‘Lord you now have set your servant free to go in peace as you have promised. For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, whom you have prepared for all the world to see.’ But then, with prophetic insight, he looks forward to what is yet to come, and says to Mary, ‘This child is destined to be a sign which many will reject, and you too shall be pierced to the heart.’ Read More
Complementary Colors – Br. Keith Nelson
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Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple
[Luke 2:22-40]
As I read the opening chapters of Luke’s gospel, I often imagine seeing an enormous tent being painstakingly erected, like those that are used for outdoor weddings. With the introduction of each significant character – Elizabeth, Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, Simeon, and Anna – another stake or peg is fixed in the earth, with its own cord attached. These cords begin to cross and intersect at just the right angles, as if by the arrangement of some mysterious, divine geometry, held taut by the weight of poles and the canvas now unfurling from the ground into a recognizable structure. Into the particularity of time and space there unfolds a tabernacle, a tent or dwelling for Christ Emmanuel, God-with-Us. A web of divinely inspired, interpersonal encounters prepares the ground and provides a sheltering roof. Read More
Candlemas – Br. Geoffrey Tristram
Luke 2:22-40
Today is Candlemas, and it’s a feast I’m very fond of. But then, I like candles! I remember as a young child, we lived in the country, and we were often having power outages. It was so exciting to slowly walk upstairs to bed carrying a candle, and then, tucked up in bed, nice and cozy, looking around a once familiar bedroom, now mysteriously alive with flickering shadows. Later, as I came to faith, looking at a candle helped me to pray: the flickering light spoke of the light of Christ, of warmth and comfort, and the mystery of God.
The candles in today’s procession, and on the altar, celebrate the event which took place 40 days after Christmas when Jesus, the Light of the World, was taken to the Temple in Jerusalem to fulfill the required ceremonies of the Law. He had already been circumcised on the eighth day and received his name. But because he was the first born, he was regarded as “holy” – in other words, belonging to the Lord – and his parents had to, as it were, buy him back by paying a shekel to the sanctuary. He was then “presented” to the Lord. Read More
Candlemas – Br. Geoffrey Tristram
Luke 2:22-40
Today is Candlemas and it is a feast I am very fond of. But then, I really like candles. I remember as a young child, we lived in the country, and we were always having power-cuts. It was so exciting to slowly walk upstairs to bed carrying a candle, and then, tucked up in bed cosy, looking around a once familiar bedroom, now mysteriously alive with flickering shadows. Read More