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A Dramatic Biblical Moment That Nearly Everyone Missed Msgr. Charles Pope • February 1, 2018 • The moment of the Presentation of Jesus was one of the most dramatic in biblical history, yet almost no one noticed.The first part of this post is review for those of you who read my blog regularly. To skip to the newer insights, skip down to the sentence in red.Joseph and Mary have gone to Jerusalem to fulfill two ancient mandates: the Rite of Purification for a woman after childbirth and the Rite of Presentation for a firstborn male child. These rites set...

The Presentation Q. Why was Jesus presented in the Temple as a small boy? Dan, Elmira, N.Y. A. Two things were operative in this event. In the first place, presenting Jesus in the Temple was the fulfillment of Jewish law, which said, “Consecrate to me every firstborn; whatever opens the womb among the Israelites, whether of human being or beast, belongs to me” (Ex 13:1-2). And since Jesus was Mary’s firstborn (and only) son, He was brought to the Temple to be consecrated to the Lord.In addition, the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple seems to have coincided with Mary’s...

The Liturgical instinct of the Feast of the Presentation which we Celebrate today is “Light.” For Christ is our light and the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light! In the Gospel Simeon holds Jesus and calls him “A light for revelation to the Gentiles.” And thus, this feast has long featured the carrying of candles by the faithful in procession, and the blessing of candles. For this reason the feast was often called “Candlemas.”Biblically the feast celebrates the “purification” of our Lady when, as a Jewish woman, she would present herself forty days after giving birth...