Daily Gospel for Sunday, 2 February 2014
“Peter replied, “Master, to whom would we go? You have the words
of real life, eternal life.”(John 6:68, The Message).
The Presentation of the Lord - Feast
Feast of the Church: The Presentation of the Lord - Feast
The Presentation of Child Jesus in the Temple
(Feast)
The law of God, given by Moses to the Jews, ordained that a
woman, after childbirth, should continue for a certain time in a state which
that law calls unclean, during which she was not to appear in public, nor
presume to touch anything consecrated to God. This term was of forty days upon
the birth of a son, and double that time for a daughter. On the expiration of
the term, the mother .vas to bring to the door of the tabernacle, or Temple, a
lamb and a young pigeon, or turtle-dove, as an offering to God. These being
sacrificed to Almighty God by the priest, the woman was cleansed of the legal
impurity and reinstated in her former privileges.
A young pigeon, or turtle-dove, by way of a sin-offering, was
required of all, whether rich or poor; but as the expense of a lamb might be
too great for persons in poor circumstances, they were allowed to substitute
for it a second dove.
Our Saviour having been conceived by the Holy Ghost, and His
blessed Mother remaining always a spotless virgin, it is evident that she did
not come under the law; but as the world was, as yet, ignorant of her miraculous
conception, she submitted with great punctuality and exactness to every
humbling circumstance which the law required. Devotion and mal to honor God, by
every observance prescribed by His law, prompted Mary to perform this act of
religion, though evidently exempt from the precept. Being poor herself, she
made the offering appointed for the poor; but; however mean in itself, it was
made with a perfect heart, which is what God chiefly regards in all that is
offered to Him. Besides the law which obliged the mother to purify herself,
there was another which ordered that the first-born son should be offered to
God, and that, after its presentation, the child should be ransomed with a
certain sum of money, and peculiar sacrifices offered on the occasion.
Mary complies exactly with all these ordinances. She obeys not
only in the essential points of the law, but has strict regard to all the
circumstances. She remains forty days at home; she denies herself, all this
time, the liberty of entering the Temple; she partakes not of things sacred;
and on the day of her purification she walks several miles to Jerusalem, with
the world's Redeemer in her arms. She waits for the priest at the gate of the
Temple, makes her offerings of thanksgiving and expiation, presents her divine
Son by the hands of the priest to His Eternal Father, with the most profound
humility, adoration, and thanksgiving. She then redeems Him with five shekels,
as the law appoints, and receives Him back again as a sacred charge committed to
her special care, till the Father shall again demand Him for the full
accomplishment of man's redemption.
The ceremony of this day was closed by a third mystery—the
meeting in the Temple of the holy persons Simeon and Anne with Jesus and His
parents. Holy Simeon, on that occasion, received into his arms the object of
all his desires and sighs, and praised God for being blessed with the happiness
of beholding the so-much-longed-for Messias. Re foretold to Mary her martyrdom
of sorrow, and that Jesus brought redemption to those who would accept of it on
the terms it was offered them; but a heavy judgment on all infidels who should
obstinately reject it, and on Christians, also, whose lives were a
contradiction to His holy maxims and example. Mary, hearing this terrible
prediction, did not answer one word, felt no agitation of mind from the
present, no dread for the future; but courageously and sweetly committed all to
God's holy will. Anne, also, the prophetess, who in her widowhood served God
with great fervor, had the happiness to acknowledge and adore in this great
mystery the Redeemer of the world. Simeon, having beheld Our Saviour,
exclaimed: "Now dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word,
because my eyes have seen Thy salvation."
This feast is called CANDLEMAS, because the Church blesses the
candles to be borne in the procession of the day.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
Saint of the Day:
SAINT CATHERINE OF RICCI
(1520-1589)
Alexandrina of Ricci was the daughter of a noble Florentine. At
the age of thirteen she entered the Third Order of St. Dominic in the monastery
of Prato, taking in religion the name of Catherine, after her patron and
namesake of Siena.
Her special attraction was to the Passion of Christ, in which
she was permitted miraculously to participate. In the Lent of 1541, being then
twenty-one years of age, she had a vision of the crucifixion so heart-rending
that she was confined to bed for three weeks, and was only restored, on Holy
Saturday, by an apparition of St. Mary Magdalene and Jesus risen. During twelve
years she passed every Friday in ecstasy, She received the sacred stigmata, the
wound in the left side, and the crown of thorns.
All these favors gave her continual and intense suffering, and inspired her with a loving
sympathy for the yet more bitter tortures of the Holy Souls. In their behalf
she offered all her prayers and penances; and her charity toward them became so
famous throughout Tuscany that after every death the friends of the deceased
hastened to Catherine to secure her prayers.
St. Catherine offered many prayers, fasts, and penances for a
certain great man, and thus obtained his salvation. It was revealed to her that
he was in purgatory; and such was her love of Jesus crucified that she offered
to suffer all the pains about to be inflicted on that soul. Her prayer was
granted. The soul entered heaven, and for forty days Catherine suffered
indescribable agonies. Her body was covered with blisters, emitting heat so
great that her cell seemed on fire. Her flesh appeared as if roasted, and her
tongue like red-hot iron. Amid all she was calm and joyful, saying, "I
long to suffer all imaginable pains, that souls may quickly see and praise
their Redeemer." She knew by revelation the arrival of a soul in.
purgatory, and the hour of its release.
She held intercourse with the Saints in glory, and frequently
conversed with St. Philip Neri at Rome without ever leaving her convent at
Prato.
She died, amid angels' songs, in 1589.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
SAINT TEOPHANE VENARD
Priest and martyr
(1829-1861)
St. Theophane was a French missionary, born on November 21,
1829, and originally from the Diocese of Poitiers. He entered into the Foreign
Missions and was ordained priest June 5, 1852. He departed for the Far East on
September 19, the same year.
After fifteen months at Hong Kong he arrived at his mission in
West Tonkin, where the Christians had recently been tried by a series of
persecutions under Minh-Menh, a monster of cruelty. Shortly after Father
Venard's arrival a new royal edict was issued against Christians, and bishops
and priests were obliged to seek refuge in caves, dense woods, and elsewhere.
Father Venard, whose constitution had always been delicate, suffered almost
constantly, but continued to exercise his ministry at night, and, more boldly,
in broad day.
On November 30, 1860, he was betrayed and captured. Tried before
a mandarin, he refused to apostatize and was sentenced to be beheaded. He
remained a captive, chained in a cage for months, from which he wrote to his
family beautiful and consoling letters, joyful in anticipation of his crown.
His bishop, Mgr Retord, wrote of him at this time: "Though in chains, he
is as gay as a little bird".
He was martyred on February 2, 1861.
Theophane Venard was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988.
The Presentation of the Lord - Feast
Book of Malachi 3: The Coming Messenger
1 See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me,
and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of
the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.
2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; 3 he
will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants
of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to
the Lord in righteousness.[a] 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will
be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
Footnotes:
a. Malachi 3:3 Or right offerings to the Lord
Psalm 24: 7 Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O
ancient doors!
that the King of glory
may come in.
8 Who is the King of glory?
The Lord, strong and
mighty,
the Lord, mighty in
battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O
ancient doors!
that the King of glory
may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of
glory.Selah
Hebrews 2: 14 Since, therefore, the children share flesh and
blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he
might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and
free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. 16
For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of
Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters[a] in
every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the
service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. 18
Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who
are being tested.
Footnotes:
a. Hebrews 2:17 Gk brothers
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 2: Jesus Is Presented in the Temple
22 When the time came for their purification according to the
law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23
(as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be
designated as holy to the Lord”), 24 and they offered a sacrifice according to
what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young
pigeons.”
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon;[a]
this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of
Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by
the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s
Messiah.[b] 27 Guided by the Spirit, Simeon[c] came into the temple; and when
the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under
the law, 28 Simeon[d] took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
29 “Master, now you are dismissing your servant[e] in peace,
according to your
word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you have
prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your
people Israel.”
33 And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was
being said about him. 34 Then Simeon[f] blessed them and said to his mother
Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be opposed 35 so that the inner thoughts of many
will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
36 There was also a prophet, Anna[g] the daughter of Phanuel, of
the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven
years after her marriage, 37 then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She
never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and
day. 38 At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the
child[h] to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
The Return to Nazareth
39 When they had finished everything required by the law of the
Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40 The child
grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
Footnotes:
a. Luke 2:25 Gk Symeon
b. Luke 2:26 Or the Lord’s Christ
c. Luke 2:27 Gk In the Spirit, he
d. Luke 2:28 Gk he
e. Luke 2:29 Gk slave
f. Luke 2:34 Gk Symeon
g. Luke 2:36 Gk Hanna
h. Luke 2:38 Gk him
The Presentation of the Lord - Feast
Commentary of the day:
Blessed Guerric of Igny (c.1080-1157), Cistercian abbot
1st Sermon for the Purification, 3-5 ; SC 166 (trans.
©Cistercian publications Inc., 1970)
"A light for revelation to the Gentiles"
O full of Grace, you I congratulate and praise. You gave birth
to the Loving-Kindness I received; you gave shape to the candle I accepted. You
prepared the wax for the touch of the light... when as the unblemished mother
you clothed the unblemishable Word in unblemished flesh."
Come then, my brethren, give an eye to that candle burning in
Simeon's hands. Light your candles too by borrowing from that Light; for these
candles I speak of are the lamps which the Lord orders us to have in our hands
(Lk 12,35). “Come to him and be enlightened” (Ps 34[33],6), so as to be not
merely carrying lamps but to be very lamps yourselves, shining inside and out,
for yourselves and for your neighbors... Come, I say, to Jesus who shines out
to us from Symeon's arms. He will give light to your faith, luster to your
works, meaning to your words, ardor to your prayer, purity to your
intentions...
And when this life's lamp is extinguished there will arise a
life's light which can never be extinguished, “a light brighter than the
noonday, arising as it were at the evening of your life” (cf Jb 11,17). And at
the very moment when you think you are burnt out, your wick's flame will “rise
like the morning star” (cf ibid.) and “your darkness shall become as the
noonday” (cf Is 58,10). “No more need of the sun's rays by day nor of the
brilliance of the moon to light your way at night: the Lord will be for you an
everlasting light” (Is 60,19), for the Lamb it is who is the lamp of the new
Jerusalem (Rv 21,23), he who is “blessing and splendor through endless ages!
Amen.” (Rv 7,12 Vg).
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