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Treasures from our Tradition
Forty days after
Christmas, this week’s ancient feast of the Presentation of the
Lord is an extension of the shining days of Christ’s coming into
the depths of winter. This is the day when, for a thousand
years, the Church has blessed a year’s supply of candles. In
many places, a procession forms outside the church. The core
memory is of Simeon and Anna’s meeting with the infant Jesus and
his parents outside the temple on the fortieth day after the
child’s birth, and the delight of going to the table of the Lord
for the Eucharist, a foretaste of our final meeting with Christ.
For some Christians, today is known as “The Meeting,” suggesting
not only the encounter in the temple, but also our assembly at
the Lord’s table and our longing for the kingdom. One story
suggests that the commotion made by so many candle-bearing,
hymn-singing faithful in the wintry fields of Germany on their
joyful way to Mass stirred the badger from hibernation to
examine this promise of springtime. The interrupted nap of the
groundhog is amazingly linked to the light of Christ driving
away the shadows of the world’s darkness. This beautiful feast
only rarely falls on a Sunday. What better reason could there be
for candles at dinner tonight?
—James Field, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co. |
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Sunday February 05, 2012 -
Today’s Readings
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Today’s
Readings
First Reading
— Job spoke, saying: I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled
nights have been allotted to me (Job 7:1-4, 6-7)
Psalm — Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted (Psalm 147)
Second Reading — I have become all things to all, to save at
least some (1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23)
Gospel — Jesus cured many who were sick with various diseases
(Mark 1:29-39) |
