Nativity Yankton, SD

Feb 2, 2005 Presentation of Our Lord

Feb 2, 2005 Lk:2:22-32
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 Jesus is presented to the Lord in the temple. The Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that the child who was the Christ, the annointed one, the savior, the Messiah, would be seen by him before he died. When he saw the child Jesus he knew that this was the Christ who would save the people of Israel and be a light for revelation to the Gentiles. We pray this part of the Scriptures daily in our liturgy of the hours morning prayer. It is a blessing to see that our life is meant to be consecrated to God and to see the child Jesus in our lifetime as our salvation is another great gift.