The Presentation of the Lord 

To All the Parishioners of the Epiphany of the Lord 

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple (Luke 2:22-40): 

The Feast of the Encounter and The Day of Consecrated Life 

Today’s celebration, especially in the East, is called the feast of the encounter. Essentially, in the Gospel that has been proclaimed, we see various encounters (Lk 2:22-40). In the temple Jesus comes to meet us and we go to meet him. We contemplate the encounter with the elderly Simeon, who represents Israel’s faithful anticipation and the heartfelt jubilation for the fulfillment of the ancient promises. We also admire the encounter with the elderly prophetess Anna who, in seeing the Child, exults in joy and praises God. Simeon and Anna are the anticipation and the prophecy, Jesus is the novelty and the fulfillment: he is presented to us as the perennial surprise of God; concentrated in this Child born for all is the past, made of memory and of promise, and the future, full of hope. 

(Pope Francis, Homily, 2016) 

Dear parishioners, the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple is also known as the Feast of the Encounter. The Liturgy says at the beginning that Jesus goes to meet/encounter his people. Thus, this is the encounter between Jesus and his people, when Mary and Joseph brought their child to the Temple in Jerusalem; the first encounter between Jesus and his people, represented by Simeon and Anna, takes place. It was also the first encounter within the history of the people, a meeting between the young and the old: the young were Mary and Joseph with their infant son and the old were Simeon and Anna, two people who often went to the Temple. 

However, there is also the encounter between the Holy Family and the two representatives of the holy people of God. Jesus is at the center. It is he who moves everything, who draws all of them to the Temple, the house of his Father. 

It is a meeting between the young, who are full of joy in observing the Law of the Lord, and the elderly who are full of joy in the action of the Holy Spirit. It is a unique encounter between observance and prophecy, where young people are the observers and the elderly are prophets! In fact, if we think carefully, observance of the Law is animated by the Spirit and the prophecy moves forward along the path traced by the Law. Who, more than Mary, is full of the Holy Spirit? Who more than she is docile to its action? 

Dear friends, the presentation of Jesus in Jerusalem is motivated by specific requirements of the law of Moses. According to Leviticus 12, after a woman gives birth to a son, she is impure for forty days. At the end of that period, she is to bring an offering to the temple, which the priest offers as a sacrifice, effecting her purification. 

Furthermore, Exodus 13:2, and 12,15 state that every first-born male which “opens the womb”, whether human or animal, “belongs” to the Lord (Exodus 34:20). However, Luke alludes to the story of Samuel. When Hannah, who had no children, prayed to God for a son, she vowed that, if she had a son, she would give him to God for all his days (1 Samuel 1:11). And indeed, after Samuel was born, Hannah brought him to the temple, and he was “lent” to the Lord for life (1 Samuel 1:24-28). 

Nevertheless, Mary in Luke takes the role of Hannah (Luke 1:46-55 with 1 Samuel 1:11; 2:1-10) while Jesus takes the role of Samuel (Luke 2:40, 52 with 1 Samuel 2:26). Thus, when Joseph and Mary present Jesus to the Lord in Jerusalem, they are in effect dedicating his life to God. Jesus will be “holy to the Lord” (Luke 2:23). 

Dear Epiphany Community, the evangelist Luke describes in the above-mentioned narrative, about five biblical figures, namely: Mary and Joseph with their infant son and Simeon and Anna, in a Twofold Attitude: the attitude of Movement and the attitude of Wonder. 

The Attitude of Movement—Mary and Joseph head towards Jerusalem: meanwhile, moved by the Spirit, Simeon goes to the Temple, while Anna tirelessly serves God, day and night. In this way the four protagonists of the Gospel passage show us that Christian life requires dynamism, and it requires a willingness to walk, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide one. 

Immobility suits neither Christian witness nor the Church’s mission. The world needs Christians who allow themselves to be moved, who do not tire of walking on life’s streets, to bring the comforting Word of Jesus to everyone. Every baptized person has received the vocation to proclaim – to proclaim something, to proclaim Jesus – the vocation and mission to evangelize: to proclaim Jesus! 

Dear parishioners, our Epiphany Parish along with its parish ministries and groups, educational and youth ministries, liturgical ministries and outreach ministries are called to foster the commitment of children, adult and young people, families and the elderly, so that everyone can have a Christian experience of encounter and movement, living the Church’s life and mission as protagonists like Mary, Joseph, their infant Son Jesus, Simeon and Anna. The Epiphany Community is called upon to embark the journey of movement. 

The Attitude of Wonder—Mary and Joseph: marveled at what was said about him (Luke 2:33). Wonder is also an explicit reaction of the aged Simeon, who sees with his own eyes in the Child Jesus the redemption of God for his people: that redemption which he had waited for years. And the same is true of Anna who gave thanks to God (Luke 2:38) and went about pointing Jesus out to the people. She was a saintly chatterbox. She talked well, she talked of good, not bad things. She spoke, she announced: a saint who went from one woman to the next, making them see Jesus. 

The above figures of believers were wrapped in wonder because they allowed themselves to be captivated by and involved in the events that occurred right before their eyes. The ability to be amazed at things around us promotes religious experience and makes the encounter with the Lord more fruitful. On the contrary, the inability to marvel makes us indifferent and widens the gap between the journey of faith and daily life. Every parishioner of the Epiphany Community is, thereupon, invited to be on the move and open to wonder! 

The World Day of Consecrated Life- Dear parishioners, today (02 February) is also the World Day of Consecrated Life which recalls the great treasure in the Church of those who follow the Lord assiduously, by professing the evangelical counsels. Today, on the Day of Consecrated Life, I would like all of us together in the Square to pray for consecrated people who work so hard, often in a hidden manner. Let us pray together. [Hail Mary]. And a round of applause for consecrated people. 

In the light of this Gospel scene, let us look at consecrated life as an encounter with Christ: it is he who comes to us, led by Mary and Joseph, and we go towards him guided by the Holy Spirit. He is at the center. He moves everything, he draws us to the Temple, to the Church, where we can meet him, recognize him, welcome him, embrace him. 

Jesus comes to us in the Church through the foundational charism of an Institute: it is nice to think of our vocation in this way! Our encounter with Christ took shape in the Church through the charism of one of her witnesses. This always amazes us and makes us give thanks. 

And, in the consecrated life, we live the encounter between the young and the old, between observation and prophecy. Let us not see these as two opposing realities! Let us rather allow the Holy Spirit to animate both of them, and a sign of this is joy: the joy of observing, of walking within a rule of life; the joy of being led by the Spirit, never unyielding, never closed, always open to the voice of God that speaks, that opens, that leads us and invites us to go towards the horizon. 

It is good for the elderly to communicate their wisdom to the young; and it’s good for the young people to gather this wealth of experience and wisdom, and to carry it forward, not so as to safeguard it in a museum, but to carry it forward addressing the challenges that life brings, to carry it forward for the sake of the respective religious orders and of the whole Church. 

Dear friends, May the grace of this mystery, the mystery of the Encounter, enlighten us and comfort us on our journey as pilgrims of hope in this Jubilee Year-2025. 

May the Virgin Mary help us to contemplate every day in Jesus, God’s gift to us, and to allow ourselves to be engaged by him in the movement of the gift with joyful wonder so that our whole life may become a praise to God in the service to our brothers and sisters in the Epiphany Parish. 

Fraternally, 
Fr. John Peter Lazaar SAC, Pastor