Saturday,
February 2nd is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. At the 9:30am Mass there will be a blessing
of candles. This day celebrates when
Mary and Joseph brought the child Jesus to the temple 40 days after his birth
to make an offering for the Purification of Mary. At the Temple, they meet Simeon, a man who
has been “awaiting the consolation of Israel,” for the Holy Spirit had revealed
to him “that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the
Lord.” Upon seeing the child with his
parents, Simeon takes Jesus into his arms and says, “Now, Master, you may let
your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your
salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and
glory for your people Israel.” The
children are familiar with this passage in the Bible from reading and
reflecting on it in all 3 Atria.
In the
Middle Ages this feast became known as Candlemas. The words of Simeon, “a light for the
revelation of the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel” reminds us of
Jesus’ words in the Gospel of John: “I
am the light” (Jn 8:12). It is customary
on this day to bring candles that you will light throughout the year in your
home, to the church to be blessed. I
invite you and your family to join us for this occasion. I will have a basket of candles which will be
used in each of our Atria to be blessed and would love to have children who
will hold the baskets from the different Atria.
I also encourage you to bring your own candles to be blessed. The Mass begins at 9:30am. Please let me know if your child would be
interested in serving at this Mass, or would like to help hold the baskets of
candles for the Atria.
Peace,
Katy
