Newsletter - 1 February
FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD
Dear brothers and sisters,
On Monday 2 February, we are celebrating the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. The Roman Missal invites us to start the celebration of mass with the following words: “Forty days have passed since we celebrated the joyful feast of the Nativity of the Lord. Today is the blessed day when Jesus is presented in the Temple by Mary and Joseph. Outwardly he was fulfilling the Law, but in reality he was coming to meet his believing people”.
It is quite surprising to realise how fast these forty days have gone. We are under the impression that Christmas was just a few days ago. Forty days is a long enough period to ponder on what was given and received at Christmas and kept thereafter. Of course we probably received a few gifts, which were testimonies of the care and affection of our loved ones.
But did we receive any spiritual gift? A word in the Bible or from the celebrations which echoed in my heart? Or a character such as Mary, Joseph, the baby born, the Magi, or anyone else who was speaking or was being close to me for one reason or another during these festive days? Why not try to recall now these events and see if there is something to treasure there? And not move too speedily to something else.
During the feast of the presentation of the Lord, the fulfilment of the Law is presented as a reason for the real motive which is that Lord comes to meet his believing people. Are we ready for this meeting with Him? Or do we simply will this meeting? There can be a few reasons why we feel far from Him or not rdy to accept Him to come close to us. Once again, in this feast – just as was the case at the Nativity – it is the Lord who is coming all the way to us, we just need to desire this encounter and let Him enter the Temple, the Temple of our heart.
I wish to all of you a blessed feast of the Presentation of the Lord.
Fr Pascal Sullivan, CCN
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