Today, we celebrate the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which marks the ritual purification of Mary and Jesus’ presentation as the firstborn Son. A “woman’s purification following childbirth was necessary before she could worship in the Temple or hand holy objects again” (Didache, 1356). However, the circumstances of Mary’s conception and of the Birth of Christ did not render her impure under the Law but, similar to how Jesus did not need to be baptized by John the Baptist but allowed him to be baptized under the Law (Matthew 3:13-15), Mary followed the Law nevertheless” (Didache, 1356).
When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple, it was the fulfillment of what Malachi prophesied: “And suddenly there will come to the temple the LORD whom you seek.” Moreover, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord is also called Candlemas (or “Candle Mass”) to emphasize that “Christ is the Light of the World” as predicted by Simeon who said: “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.” Jesus is the “light for the nations” so that God’s “salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 42:6, 49:6). This “salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles” (Acts 28:28).
Bishop John the Serene once said that "[we] should then in the fullest sense not only with our voice but with our very soul cry out, The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? If he enlightens and saves me, whom shall I fear? Even though the dark shadows of evil suggestions crowd about, the Lord is my light. They can approach, but cannot prevail; they can lay siege to our heart, but cannot conquer it. Though the blindness of concupiscence assails us, again we say: The Lord is my light. For he is our strength; he gives himself to us and we give ourselves to him."
My sisters and brothers in Christ, our Lord Jesus Christ is the light that must not be “put under the bushel basket” but the light that should be “set on a lampstand,” a light that “must shine before others” (Matthew 5:15-16). At our Baptism, the Light of Christ, which is symbolized by the baptismal candle that is lit from the paschal candle, is entrusted to us to be kept “burning brightly, so that [we], enlightened by Christ, may walk always as a child of the light” (Order of Baptism). In other words, we are called to let the Light of Christ shine forth in our words and actions so that others may see our “good deeds and glorify [our] heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:15-16). How? In the words of Saint Teresa of Calcutta: “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.”
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