The practice and exercise of justice is the religious response to having experienced the mercy of God in our lives. If we have ever been forgiven, let off the hook, given another chance, then the only response to that gift is to live justly, to give to others what is demanded in justice because they are human beings and because when God could have dealt with us justly, God didn't.
- Megan McKenna, Parables -
(Spend some time thanking God for showing mercy in forgiving your sins. Where do you find a need to practice forgiveness at this time in your life? )
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Mal 3:1-4; Psalm 24:7, 8, 9, 10; Heb 2:14-18
Lk 2:22-40
When the days were completed for their purification
according to the law of Moses,
Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord,
just as it is written in the law of the Lord,
Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,
and to offer the sacrifice of
a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,
in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.
This man was righteous and devout,
awaiting the consolation of Israel,
and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit
that he should not see death
before he had seen the Christ of the Lord.
He came in the Spirit into the temple;
and when the parents brought in the child Jesus
to perform the custom of the law in regard to him,
he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:
“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 child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;
and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
“Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
-and you yourself a sword will pierce-
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
There was also a prophetess, Anna,
the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.
She was advanced in years,
having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.
She never left the temple,
but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
And coming forward at that very time,
she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child
to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.
When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions
of the law of the Lord,
they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom;
and the favor of God was upon him.
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Reflection on the Scriptures
- feast of the Presentation of the Lord
I am writing this reflection on the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple on January 18, which is celebrated as Martin Luther King Jr Day in the U.S. It is two days before the presidential inauguration and 12 days after the riots at Capitol Hill in Washington DC. The atmosphere in the country is politically charged and tense. To make matters worse, the pandemic continues to take its toll. As of this writing,
there are over 24 million COVID-19 related cases and over 400,000 deaths just in the U.S. with the global number being over 95 million cases and over 2 million deaths. While vaccines have begun being administered, new variants of the virus threaten to further complicate the situation. It is not surprising then that I am filled with mixed emotions. However, as I reflect on the gospel reading from Luke, I am reminded of Martin Luther King Jr’s words in a 1963 speech: “Darkness cannot drive out
darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Today’s feast is also called ‘Candlemas’ because this was the day that all the candles used in the Church throughout the year would be blessed. The light from these candles symbolizes Christ, the light of the world and echo Simeon’s words in the gospel reading, of the little Jesus being “a light of revelation to the Gentiles.” The Presentation of the Lord has two dimensions: purification and presentation. Both these
dimensions have relevance for us today. We are called to purify ourselves of our prejudices, hatred, and disordered affections and to present the love and light of Christ to our world. But as we know from experience, at least I do know from mine, this is not easy, and we need God’s grace. As we recall the presentation of the Lord in the Temple today, let us pray that we may be guided by the Holy Spirit to allow the love and light of Christ to shine through us on our
world.
- by Nicky Santos, S.J.
The Son of God Became Human
From The Catechism of the Catholic Church
Part One, Section Two, Chapter Two
Article 3: He Was Conceived by the Power of the Holy Spirit, and Born of the Virgin Mary
Paragraph 1: The Son of God Became Man
III. TRUE GOD AND TRUE MAN
466 The Nestorian heresy regarded Christ as a human person joined to the divine person of God's Son. Opposing this heresy, St. Cyril of Alexandria and the third ecumenical council, at Ephesus in 431, confessed "that the Word, uniting to himself in his person the flesh animated by a rational soul, became man."89 Christ's humanity has no other subject than the divine person of the Son of God, who assumed it and
made it his own, from his conception. For this reason the Council of Ephesus proclaimed in 431 that Mary truly became the Mother of God by the human conception of the Son of God in her womb: "Mother of God, not that the nature of the Word or his divinity received the beginning of its existence from the holy Virgin, but that, since the holy body, animated by a rational soul, which the Word of God united to himself according to the hypostasis, was born from her, the Word is said to be born
according to the flesh."90
(Footnote references in the Catechism.)
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