The Presentation of Our lord Jesus Christ in the Temple

February 2, 2023

The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple

 

“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples.”                                                                     

                                                                                                            Luke 2:29-31

 

Forty days after His birth, Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple as was the custom for a first-born son, to be dedicated to God. There they encounter Holy Symeon, who had spent his entire life awaiting the coming of the Messiah. Taking up Jesus in his arms, he prays his prayer of thanksgiving, recognizing Jesus as the fulfillment of his, and the world’s deepest hope.

 

Each Sunday, as we receive Christ in the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist, we too may pray this prayer of thanksgiving, as we “depart in peace,” for our own eyes have seen God’s salvation in Christ. It is this hope, this promise, and our encounter with the Risen Christ, that we take out into the darkness of the world – “a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

 

As we enter the period of the Triodion, preparing ourselves for Great Lent, it is time to pause and reflect on the magnitude of God’s love for us and the world in sending His Son. It’s all too easy to take for granted the salvation that is ours in Christ, and to no longer “see” Him, as did Symeon. This is a season to “open our eyes” yet again, to see God’s salvation in Christ. This is the heart of this season of repentance – to turn our gaze back upon Christ, which means turning away from all that would blind us to His Light.

 

May we, like Symeon, hold Christ anew, and see Him as He is. May we truly join with him in saying, “My eyes have seen Your salvation,” and having seen Him, share His Light with all around us. It is Christ who illumines the darkness of our world, and we are called to be His Light-bearers.

 

 

In Christ,

 

Fr. David

  

 

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