Our Sunday Reflection

CLICK HERE for the Audio recording of the Readings of
February 2nd, 2020.  Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.

CLICK HERE for the Readings of February 2nd, 2020.  Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.

Welcome the Light into your Life by celebrating and receiving the Eucharist!

Sunday, February 2nd, 2020.  Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.
 

“Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
--and you yourself a sword will pierce--
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Luke 2: 34-35

Growth means coping with pain

I would have liked to be a fly on the wall to see or get a sense of Mary and Joseph’s reaction when the old man Simeon uttered the above words. What was it like?  Were they happy or sad or just stunned?
I would have leaned closer a little more to capture Mary’s individual reaction as the mother of the child when he said “and you yourself a sword will pierce--so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

What is going on, they must say?  What is this? 
As required of the Law, many Jews annually went up to Jerusalem to complete the rituals of purification, but this time things are strange for Mary and Joseph.  The shock doesn't seem to stop!, now  Anna, a prophetess also appears from nowhere.  She has lived seven years in the temple, now eighty four, but as if waiting for this moment, she gives thanks to God and spoke about the child. The temple experience this time has been shockingly revealing.
The Temple (which for us might be the church), for the people of Jesus' time was everything.  It was the center of life.  Here they found Yahweh-God.  Here he resides.  They come quietly to pray, to fulfill their annual duty, to request, to desire, but most of all to belong.  They know that God for them is everything they are, they hope for and desire.  It all starts and ends with God.  And so the relationship with God comes first and foremost.
How might we, today, restore this attitude even more?  How can we turn our hearts back to God as the center of all our activity and life?  Can ‘Sunday’ take its place again in everyday living?  We may be surprised at what God firms up and reveals in our lives?

Also, as we gather in the Church, we listen to the ‘Word of God’.  This ‘Word’ often times can be a challenging word (burning word).  Let us not be surprised if the ‘Word of God’ is not what we want to hear.  Countless times, it is not soothing, it is many times uncomfortable . It requires us like a child, ‘to grow’...And ‘growth means coping with pain’.  Pain is the challenge and cross we find, the suffering that awaits us. 
Yet, in all this we are confident, because the child presented in our midst as ‘Lord’, is our hope and strength.  As the second reading reminds us, “because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested” (Hebrews 2: 18). 

Let us never hesitate to invite Jesus into our lives, ask him to help us ‘grow’ like he grew, become strong and filled with wisdom and favor with God, like he did.

And suddenly there will come to the temple the LORD whom you seek,
And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.
Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears?
For he is like the refiner’s fire, 

A Blessed Week in the Lord!
Fr. Anthony



View the below video for another Sunday Reflection on the readings.