presentation of jesus in temple

Reflections for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Introduction: This feast commemorates how Jesus, as a baby, was presented to God in the Temple in Jerusalem. This presentation finds its complete and perfect fulfillment in the mystery of the passion, death and Resurrection of the Lord. The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is a combined feast , commemorating the Jewish practice of the purification of the mother after childbirth and the presentation of the child to God in the Temple and his buying back ( redemption ) from God. It is also known as the Feast of the Purification of Mary , and the Feast of Candlemas. It is also called the Feast of Encounter ( Hypapánte in Greek) because the New Testament, represented by the baby Jesus, encountered the Old Testament, represented by Simeon and Anna. Joseph offered two pigeons in the Temple as sacrifice for the purification of Mary after her childbirth and for the presentation and redemption ceremonies performed for baby Jesus.

Homily starter anecdote: “Four chaplains Sunday: Julia Duin in the Washington Times Sunday, February 1, 2009 told this story. Just after midnight on Feb. 3, 1943, an act of extraordinary unselfishness by a group of men became a legend of martyrdom and sacrifice. When the Army ship Dorchester was torpedoed by the Germans just south of Greenland that night, its passengers and crew had 25 minutes to get off the boat. As 902 people went for the life jackets, it quickly was discovered there weren’t near enough. Of the 13 lifeboats, only two functioned. In the ship’s final minutes, Methodist senior chaplain George Lansing Fox, Rabbi Alexander Goode, Dutch Reformed minister Clark V. Poling and John P. Washington, a Roman Catholic priest, were helping passengers leave the vessel. Then four men appeared all of them without life jackets. The chaplains quickly gave up their own vests and went down with the ship, perishing in the freezing water. Survivors saw them, locked arm in arm, praying and singing the Navy hymn, “Eternal Father, Strong to Save” just before the ship dove beneath the waves. It was a night as dramatic as the sinking of the Titanic but without a blockbuster movie to record the drama. “The Four Immortal Chaplains,” as they are now known, have been honored many times, including on a stamp issued in their honor by the U.S. Postal Service. Hence the first Sunday in February is known as “Four Chaplains Sunday” in some Christian denominations. They presented and offered themselves completely for the wellbeing of others as Jesus was presented to God his Heavenly Father in the Temple of Jerusalem for the salvation of the world. ( http://frtonyshomilies.com/).

Scripture lessons summarized: In the first reading, taken from Malachi, the prophet speaks of the Lord suddenly coming to Jerusalem to purify the lax, lazy and indifferent priests of His Temple as silver is purified by fire. Simeon saw the Infant Jesus as the fulfillment of this passage. He saw Jesus as the Lord Who has come to the Temple, "destined to be the downfall and rise of many in Israel." In the second reading, St. Paul proclaims Jesus as our Eternal High Priest of the New Covenant (Heb 2:17), Who offered himself on the altar of Calvary, the only pure priestly sacrifice that could please God. He replaces the former priesthood. The Gospel describes how Joseph, as the head of the Holy Family of Nazareth, presented Mary and the baby Jesus in the Temple of God for the mother’s purification and the Child’s “redemption.” It also describes the Holy Family’s encounter with the old prophet Simeon and the holy old widow Anna. In his prophecy, Simeon extols the divine blessings which the Messiah is bringing to Israel and to all men and predicts that Mary will play a crucial and sacrificial role in her Son's redemptive work by sharing in her Son's sufferings.

The first reading explained : Malachi prophesies in the first reading that the Lord is going to appear suddenly in the Temple of Jerusalem to purify its priests and the people . The prophecy warns that nobody can endure the day of the messenger's coming because he will be like a refining fire, purifying the sons of Levi. Led by the Spirit, Simeon saw the Infant Jesus as the fulfillment of this passage . Simeon, even if unknown to himself, foresaw Christ and His priests of the New Covenant who were ordained during the Last Supper. He saw Jesus as the Lord Who would come to the Temple, "destined to be the downfall and rise of many in Israel." In today's reading, Malachi prophesies that God will purify the lax, lazy and indifferent priests of His Temple as silver is purified by fire. At the time of Malachi (around 460-450 BC), the priests were offering blemished (blind, lame) sacrifices and giving bad example (1:6-2:4). The people were negligent in their support of the Temple (3:6-12). Israelite wives were being rejected by husbands who wished to marry foreign women (2:14-16). Social injustice was rampant (3:5), and the people doubted God’s love (1:2-5). Hence, Malachi reminds them that the Day of the Lord, a Day of Judgment, reward and retribution is coming. He describes the Divine intervention as a two-stage process. First God’s messenger will appear to prepare the way by purifying the clergy and refining the cult (v. 3). This purification will take place until they present offerings to the Lord in a spirit of justice and righteousness. Then, the Lord of Hosts will suddenly appear in the Temple (v. 1), to bring judgment and justice against unfaithful sinners (v. 5). The Psalm announces to Jerusalem that Jerusalem is about to receive a great visitor. The Psalmist identifies him as “The LORD of hosts … the king of glory.”

The second reading explained: The second reading proclaims Jesus as our Eternal High Priest of the New Covenant (Heb 2:17), Who offered Himself on the altar of Calvary, the only pure priestly sacrifice that could please God. The Didache or the first catechism of the early Church (14:1-3), saw Malachi’s prophecy of a pure sacrifice and offering made from east to west as a prophecy of the sacrifice of the Eucharist. Hence Malachi prophesies that the Lord will enter His Temple, there will be a renewed priesthood, and there will be a pure sacrifice offered worldwide and pleasing to God -- the Eucharist. Jesus became like us in all things except sin in order that He might offer to the Father perfect praise and glory. Besides, since Jesus fully shared our experience, He is now a merciful and faithful High Priest on our behalf, "able to help those who are being tested." Jesus replaces the former priesthood. In keeping with the theme of today’s feast, namely, the presentation of the first fruits, this excerpt from Hebrews emphasizes Jesus’ dual role, as first-fruits , par excellence , and as the faithful High priest Who presents the perfect gift of Himself to God for the expiation of human sin. By virtue of His Incarnation, Jesus became human in every way (vv. 17-18) except as regards sin. As representative of His brothers and sisters before God and as their Mediator, Christ perfected His service as both sacrifice and priest. By so doing, Christ was able to “rob the devil” of power (v. 14). As the first-fruits from the dead, as the conqueror of sin and death, Christ, in His person and through His mission, has set the course and cleared the way we are to follow; the decision to do so must be a daily and deliberate one. It takes faith to see God's power at work in the death of Jesus. Simeon hinted at this when he told Mary that she herself would be pierced with a sword. Even knowing that her Son was the Savior of the world, it would be difficult for Mary to see him accomplish that salvation by being crucified.

Exegesis of today’s Gospel: The birth of Christ was revealed by three kinds of witnesses in three different ways -- first, by the shepherds, after the angel's announcement; second, by the Magi, who were guided by a star; third, by Simeon and Anna, who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Today’s Gospel describes the Presentation of the Baby Jesus in the Temple. It was intended to ritually redeem Jesus who was the first born in the family and where Mary herself will have to be ritually purified. Mary and Joseph was a typical pious Jewish couple, who went to the Temple in obedience to do all that was required and expected of them by the Law.The Feast of the Presentation of Jesus is a combined feast , commemorating the Jewish practice of the purification of the mother after childbirth and the presentation of the child in the Temple. It is known as the Hypapánte feast or Feast of the Purification of Mary (by the offering two pigeons in the Temple), the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (by prayers and a sacrifice offered in the Temple to redeem or buy the firstborn male child back from the Lord), the Feast of Candlemas (because of its ancient rite of blessing of the candles to be used in the church for the next year — a practice dating from the middle of the fifth century) and the Feast of Encounter (because the New Testament, represented by the Baby Jesus, encountered the Old Testament, represented by Simeon and Anna). Originally, there was no connection between today’s festival and the blessing of candles. In the ancient East, this celebration occurred on February 14, forty days after Epiphany. On February 15, pagans celebrated the festival of Lupercalia , a great “light” festival. Perhaps this is an instance of the Church's “baptizing” a pagan custom. At the principal Mass, the celebrant blesses candles, and people take part in a candlelight procession. This should remind us that Jesus is our High Priest and the Light of the World.

Purification and redemption ceremonies : The Gospel describes how Joseph, as the head of the Holy Family of Nazareth, presented Mary and the baby Jesus in the Temple of God for the mother’s purification and the child’s “redemption.” According to Leviticus 12:2-8, a woman who bore a child was unclean for forty days following the birth of a son or eighty days following the birth of a daughter. Although Mary, the most holy of women, ever-Virgin, was exempt from these precepts of the Law, because of her miraculous conception, she chose to submit herself to the Law just like any other Jewish mother. Joseph and Mary showed their total submission to Law and obey the norms prescribed by the Old Testament. The custom was practiced probably for the physical and emotional re-integration of the new mother into the community. There was a religious reason as well. Exodus 13:2, 12-13 prescribes that every first-born male belongs to God and must be set apart for the Lord, that is, dedicated to the service of God. However, once divine worship was reserved to the tribe of Levi, first-born who did not belong to that tribe were not dedicated to God's service, and to show that they continued to be God's special property, a rite of redemption was performed. The Law also commanded that the Israelites should offer in sacrifice some lesser victim -- for example, a lamb or, if they were poor, a pair of doves or two pigeons. The Book of Numbers 18: 15 taught that since every Jewish firstborn male child belonged to Yahweh, the parents had to “buy back” (redeem), the child by offering a lamb or turtledoves as a sacrifice in the Temple. The price of redemption for a human baby is five shekels of silver (Num 18:15-16). Jesus never needed to be "bought back," as he belonged wholly to the Lord, but Joseph kept these laws as an act of obedience to God.

The encounter with Simeon and Anna : By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the old, pious and Spirit-filled Simeon and Anna had been waiting in the Temple for the revelation of God’s salvation. The Greek Church celebrates the Hypapánte or Feast of the Encounter commemorating the encounter of the New Testament represented by Jesus with the Old Testament represented by Simeon and Anna. Simeon, who is described as a righteous and devout man, obedient to God's will, addresses himself to our Lord as a vassal or loyal servant who, having kept watch all his life in expectation of the coming of his Lord, sees that this moment has "now" come, the moment that explains his whole life. When he takes the Child in his arms, he learns, not through any reasoning process but through a special grace from God, that this Child is the promised Messiah, the Consolation of Israel, the Light of the nations. Simeon recognizes Jesus as the Lord’s anointed one, and in his prayer of blessing he prophesies that Jesus is meant to be the glory of Israel and the light of revelation to the Gentiles. Pope Francis: “Simeon took him in his arms and thanked God that he had finally “seen” salvation. Anna, despite her advanced age, found new vigor and began to speak to everyone about the Baby. It is a beautiful image: two young parents and two elderly people, brought together by Jesus. He is the one who brings together and unites generations! He is the inexhaustible font of that love which overcomes every occasion of self-absorption, solitude, and sadness. In your journey as a family, you share so many beautiful moments: meals, rest, housework, leisure, prayer, trips and pilgrimages, and times of mutual support… Nevertheless, if there is no love then there is no joy, and authentic love comes to us from Jesus. He offers us his word, which illuminates our path; he gives us the Bread of life which sustains us on our journey.”

Simeon’s prophecy: Simeon's canticle (verses 29-32) is also a prophecy. It consists of two stanzas: the first (verses 29-30) is his act of thanksgiving to God, filled with profound joy for having seen the Messiah. The second (verses 31-32) is more obviously prophetic and extols the divine blessings which the Messiah is bringing to Israel and to all men. The canticle highlights the fact that Christ brings redemption to all men without exception -- something foretold in many Old Testament prophecies (cf. Genesis 22:18; Isaiah 2:6; 42:6; 60:3; Psalm 28:2). While Simeon blessed Mary, he warned her that her child would be “ a sign of contradiction, ” and that she would be “ pierced with a sword.” Simeon was prophesying both the universal salvation that would be proclaimed by Jesus and the necessity of suffering in the mission of the Messiah. Jesus came to bring salvation to all men, yet He would be a sign of contradiction because some people would obstinately reject Him -- and for this reason He would be their ruin. But for those who would accept Him with faith, Jesus would be their salvation, freeing them from sin in this life and raising them up to eternal life. The Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph marveled, but not because they did not know who Christ was. They were in awe at the way God was revealing Him.

The paradox of blessedness: Mary was given the blessedness of being the mother of the Son of God. That blessedness also would become a sword which would pierce her heart as her Son died upon the cross. The words Simeon addressed to Mary announced that she would be intimately linked with her Son's redemptive work. The sword indicated that Mary would have a share in her Son's sufferings. Her suffering would be an unspeakable pain which would pierce her soul. Our Lord suffered on the cross for our sins, and it is those sins which forged the sword of Mary's pain. Mary received both a crown of joy and a cross of sorrow. But her joy was not diminished by her sorrow because it was fueled by her faith, hope, and trust in God and his promises. Jesus promised his disciples, "no one will take your joy from you" (John 16:22). The Lord gives us a supernatural joy which enables us to bear any sorrow or pain and which neither life nor death can take way. Do you know the joy of a life fully surrendered to God with faith and trust? According to Dr. Scot Hann, the feast we celebrate shows a curious turn of events. The Redeemer is redeemed. She who is all-pure presents herself to be purified. Such is the humility of our God. Such is the humility of the Blessed Virgin. They submit to the law even though they are not bound by it.

Anna’s encounter with the Lord and her testifying to the Messiah: Anna was an eighty-four-year-old widow who spent her days in the Temple in fasting and prayer, waiting for the promised Messiah. She was rewarded with the joy of seeing her Redeemer as a Baby. In her excitement, she praised God and introduced the Infant to others around her as the expected Messiah. Supernatural hope grows with prayer and age! Anna was pre-eminently a woman of great hope and expectation that God would fulfill all his promises. She is a model of godliness for all believers as we advance in age. Advancing age and the disappointments of life can easily make us cynical and hopeless if we do not have our hope placed rightly. Anna's hope in God and His promises grew with age. She never ceased to worship God in faith and to pray with hope. Her hope and faith in God's promises fueled her indomitable zeal and fervor in prayer and the service of God's people. We grow in hope by placing our trust in the promises of Jesus Christ and relying not on our own strength, but on the grace and help of the Holy Spirit. After completing the presentation and redemption of baby Jesus and the ritual purification of Mary and the meeting with Simeon and Anna, Joseph and Mary understood more fully their responsibility before God to protect the child as they return to Nazareth

Life messages : 1) Every Holy Mass in which we participate is our presentation . Although we were officially presented to God on the day of our Baptism, we present ourselves and our dear ones on the altar before God our Father through our Savior Jesus Christ at every Holy Mass. Hence, we need to live our daily lives with the awareness both that we are dedicated people consecrated to God and that we are obliged to lead holy lives.

2) We need the assistance of the Holy Spirit to recognize the presence of Jesus in ourselves and in others: All those who, like Simeon and Anna, persevere in piety and in the service of God, no matter how insignificant their lives seem in men's eyes, become instruments the Holy Spirit uses to make Christ known to others. In His plan of redemption, God makes use of these simple souls to do much good for all mankind. In other words, The Holy Spirit employs ordinary men and women with simple faith as His instruments to bear witness to Christ, His ideals and teachings, just as He used Simeon and Anna. The Holy Spirit reveals the presence of the Lord to us when we are receptive and eager to receive Him. Let us be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit within us to recognize the indwelling presence of the Lord with us and in others. (Fr. Antony Kadavil)

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The Deeper Meaning of the Presentation in the Temple

By Clement Harrold

For many Catholics, the fourth joyful mystery—the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple—can be a difficult scene to meditate on. What’s the episode about, anyway? And what might be its deeper meaning?

Beginning with the first question, it’s important to remember that the Presentation described in Luke 2:22-38 is not the circumcision of Jesus. That already took place eight days after His birth. Rather, the Presentation took place in order to fulfill two different dictates of the Mosaic Law.

The first of these, drawn from Leviticus 12, mandated that mothers needed to be purified forty days after giving birth to a male child. This is why the Presentation is celebrated in the Church’s calendar on February 2nd—also known as “Candlemas,” an allusion to Simeon’s words about the boy Jesus being “a light for revelation to the Gentiles” (Lk 2:32)—because the event takes place forty days after the nativity (counting December 25 as day one).

In order to make the purification, the mother in question was required to sacrifice a lamb as well as either a pigeon or a turtledove. The law made provision, however, for those families who were too poor to afford a lamb, in which case they could sacrifice two pigeons or two turtledoves instead. St. Luke goes out of his way to inform the reader that this is exactly what the Holy Family did, thereby reminding us of their material poverty (see Lk 2:24).

The second precept of the Mosaic Law which Mary and Joseph were following is the requirement from Exodus 13:2 that all firstborns be consecrated to God in a special way. More specifically, this ritual rested on the understanding that the firstborn naturally belonged to God, and so the child’s human parents were expected to “redeem” (from the Latin redimō , meaning to “buy back”) their child by paying five shekels to the priest.

All of this helps us to see that the Presentation in the Temple was about two important things: (1) the purification of Mary and (2) the redemption of baby Jesus. So far so good. But there are two other elements here which are worth paying attention to. For one thing, the Mosaic Law nowhere demanded that the purification or the redemption take place within the Temple. This means that the Holy Family was being extra devout by going to the Temple for this special day.

Additionally, there is one detail in the Presentation narrative which is startling for its absence. While St. Luke does mention that Mary and Joseph bought the two turtledoves, he never takes the time to mention the paying of the five shekels to redeem baby Jesus. In other words, he cites the redeeming-of-the-firstborns precept laid down in Exodus 13:2, but he leaves out a description of this redemption taking place. Why might that be?

For the late Pope Benedict XVI, in his Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives , the answer was obvious. St. Luke leaves a literary silence in the passage in order to drive home the point that the infant Jesus belongs to His Heavenly Father:

Evidently Luke intends to say that instead of being “redeemed” and restored to his parents, this child was personally handed over to God in the Temple, given over completely to God. . . . Luke has nothing to say regarding the act of “redemption” prescribed by the law. In its place we find the exact opposite: the child is handed over to God, and from now on belongs to him completely. (p. 3)

Understanding this detail can help us bring the fourth joyful mystery to life in a new way. The Presentation isn’t just another boring religious ritual. On the contrary, it is a deeply symbolic moment pointing to Jesus’s divine identity, and to Mary and Joseph’s perfect cooperation with His divine mission.

A meditative guide to the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

Public Domain

When reading the Bible, many scenes are described very briefly, with very few details. This makes it relatively easy to pass over an important event quickly, missing the depth of the symbolism hidden in the story.

One of the best things we can do is slowly read the Bible, chewing on every word and even placing ourselves into the scene. When we do this with our imagination, we can discover spiritual truths that we didn’t expect to find.

Here is a meditative guide to the event of Jesus’ presentation in the Temple, as laid out in The little book of the most holy child Jesus . It presents a beautiful meditation, allowing us time to think about every aspect of the biblical event and allow God’s grace to invade our hearts.

Let us enter the Temple of Jerusalem. The one great house of the true God in all the earth. Bright and rich with gold and colour and curious work. The house of prayer, the one place of sacrifice. The great altar of God stands there. Crowds pass to and fro to bring their offerings or to join in the never-ending worship. Unheeded through the crowds—unheeded because so lowly and quiet—a pair go up to the place of offering. A maiden bearing in her arms a Babe. By her side a staid and thoughtful man. They are Mary and Joseph, and they bring the little Jesus into the Temple. No longer the gloomy cave. The Holy Child and His parents pass through the crowds in the stately courts of the Temple, their hearts overflowing with joy and peace; but so quiet and of such low estate are they, that none seem to notice them. Yet that Babe is the Lord of the Temple, Lord of heaven and earth, of all creation. Heaven itself cannot contain His glory, nor countless angels worship Him enough or sound the praises due to Him. It is His will to be offered thus for the love of us, with all His glory hidden, in His Temple on earth. It is His will because it is the will of the Father who has loved us with an everlasting love. The crowds know not, as they press by, that it is their Savior and God. Yet Mary, whose only thought is to do the will of her Son, knows that she is offering a gift beyond all price, at once her first-born Son and her God. Aged Simeon, the holy servant of God, for years and years has come daily to the Temple with the hope of seeing this holy Babe. He was told by the Holy Spirit that he should not die before he had this great joy And now he takes the Child, his Lord, in his arms, a peaceful calm flows in upon his soul, and he is ready to die when the good God wills. Anna, too, the aged Prophetess, for this also had waited in the Temple for long years. Now she sees her heart’s desire. She reveals the Holy Child to the Jews; but little do they heed. They are taken up with this world, and love its pomps and grandeur so well that when they look upon its Lord and Maker they see but a little Infant like any other child of men. A poor Infant in a young maiden’s arms, Jesus, Thou art come to do Thy Father’s will. I desire to do that holy will in all things, whatever it may cost. I offer myself to Thee; do with me what Thou seest best, now and for evermore.

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CELEBRATION OF VESPERS FOR THE FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD ON THE OCCASION OF THE 15th DAY OF CONSECRATED LIFE

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI

Vatican Basilica Wednesday, 2 February 2011

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

On today’s Feast we contemplate the Lord Jesus, whom Mary and Joseph bring to the Temple “to present him to the Lord” (Lk 2:22). This Gospel scene reveals the mystery of the Son of the Virgin, the consecrated One of the Father who came into the world to do his will faithfully ( cf . Heb 10:5-7).

Simeon identifies him as “a light for revelation to the Gentiles” (Lk 2:32) and announces with prophetic words his supreme offering to God and his final victory ( cf . Lk 2:32-35). This is the meeting point of the two Testaments, Old and New. Jesus enters the ancient temple; he who is the new Temple of God: he comes to visit his people, thus bringing to fulfilment obedience to the Law and ushering in the last times of salvation.

It is interesting to take a close look at this entrance of the Child Jesus into the solemnity of the temple, in the great comings and goings of many people, busy with their work: priests and Levites taking turns to be on duty, the numerous devout people and pilgrims anxious to encounter the Holy God of Israel. Yet none of them noticed anything. Jesus was a child like the others, a first-born son of very simple parents.

Even the priests proved incapable of recognizing the signs of the new and special presence of the Messiah and Saviour. Alone two elderly people, Simeon and Anna, discover this great newness. Led by the Holy Spirit, in this Child they find the fulfilment of their long waiting and watchfulness. They both contemplate the light of God that comes to illuminate the world and their prophetic gaze is opened to the future in the proclamation of the Messiah: “ Lumen ad revelationem gentium !” (Lk 2:32). The prophetic attitude of the two elderly people contains the entire Old Covenant which expresses the joy of the encounter with the Redeemer. Upon seeing the Child, Simeon and Anna understood that he was the Awaited One.

The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple is an eloquent image of the total gift of one’s life for all those, men and women, who are called to represent “ the characteristic features of Jesus — the chaste, poor and obedient one” (Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Vita Consecrata , n. 1) in the Church and in the world, through the evangelical counsels. For this reason Venerable John Paul II chose today’s Feast to celebrate the Annual World Day of Consecrated Life.

In this context, I would like to offer a cordial and appreciative greeting to Archbishop João Braz de Aviz, whom I recently appointed Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, along with the Secretary and the co-workers. I also greet with affection the Superiors General present and all the consecrated people.

I would like to suggest three brief thoughts for reflection on this Feast. The first: the evangelical image of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple contains the fundamental symbol of light; the light that comes from Christ and shines on Mary and Joseph, on Simeon and Anna, and through them, on everyone. The Fathers of the Church connected this radiance with the spiritual journey. The consecrated life expresses this journey, in a special way, as “ philokalia ”, love of the divine beauty, a reflection of God’s divine goodness ( cf . ibid ., n. 19). On Christ’s Face the light of such beauty shines forth.

“The Church contemplates the transfigured face of Christ in order to be confirmed in faith and to avoid being dismayed at his disfigured face on the Cross.... she is the Bride before her Spouse, sharing in his mystery and surrounded by his light. This light shines on all the Church’s children.... But those who are called to the consecrated life have a special experience of the light which shines forth from the Incarnate Word. For the profession of the evangelical counsels makes them a kind of sign and prophetic statement for the community of the breth-ren and for the world” ( ibid ., n. 15).

Secondly, the evangelical image portrays the prophecy, a gift of the Holy Spirit. In contemplating the Child Jesus, Simeon and Anna foresee his destiny of death and Resurrection for the salvation of all peoples and they proclaim this mystery as universal salvation.

The consecrated life is called to bear this prophetic witness, linked to its two-fold contemplative and active approach. Indeed consecrated men and women are granted to show the primacy of God, passion for the Gospel practised as a form of life and proclaimed to the poor and the lowliest of the earth.

“Because of this pre-eminence nothing can come before personal love of Christ and of the poor in whom he lives.... True prophecy is born of God, from friendship with him, from attentive listening to his word in the different circumstances of history” ( ibid ., n. 84).

In this way the consecrated life in its daily experience on the roads of humanity, displays the Gospel and the Kingdom, already present and active.

Thirdly, the evangelical image of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple demonstrates the wisdom of Simeon and Anna, the wisdom of a life completely dedicated to the search for God’s Face, for his signs, for his will; a life dedicated to listening to and proclaiming his word. “ Faciem tuam, Domine, requiram : ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek’ (Ps 27 [26]:8).... Consecrated life in the world and in the Church is a visible sign of this search for the face of the Lord and of the ways that lead to the Lord ( cf . Jn 14:8) .... The consecrated person, therefore, gives witness to the task, at once joyful and laborious, of the diligent search for the divine will” ( cf . Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Instruction The Service of Authority and Obedience. Faciem tuam, Domine, requiram [2008], n. 1).

Dear brothers and sisters, may you be assiduous listeners to the word, because all wisdom concerning life comes from the word of the Lord! May you seek the word, through lectio divina, since consecrated life “is born from hearing the word of God and embracing the Gospel as its rule of life. A life devoted to following Christ in his chastity, poverty and obedience thus becomes a living ‘exegesis’ of God’s word. The Holy Spirit, in whom the Bible was written, is the same Spirit who illumines the word of God with new light for the Founders and Foundresses. Every charism and every Rule springs from it and seeks to be an expression of it, thus opening up new pathways of Christian living marked by the radicalism of the Gospel” (Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini , n. 83).

Today, especially in the more developed societies, we live in a condition often marked by a radical plurality, by the progressive marginalization of religion in the public sphere and by relativism which touches the fundamental values. This demands that our Christian witness be luminous and consistent and that our educational effort be ever more attentive and generous.

May your apostolic action, in particular, dear brothers and sisters, become a commitment of life that with persevering enthusiasm attains to Wisdom as truth and as beauty, the “splendour of the truth”. May you, with the wisdom of your life and with trust in the inexhaustible possibilities of true education, guide the minds and hearts of the men and women of our time towards a “good life according to the Gospel”.

At this moment, my thoughts turn with special affection to all of the consecrated men and women throughout the world and I entrust them to the Blessed Virgin Mary :

O, Mary, Mother of the Church, I entrust all consecrated people to you, that you may obtain for them the fullness of divine light: may they live in listening to the Word of God, in the humility of following Jesus, your Son and our Lord, in the acceptance of the visit of the Holy Spirit, in the daily joy of the Magnificat , so that the Church may be edified by the holy lives of these sons and daughters of yours, in the commandment of love. Amen.

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BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Mary, simeon or anna: who first recognized jesus as messiah.

Simeon and Anna recognize Jesus, the Messiah

THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE. When Joseph (far left) and Mary (left of center) bring baby Jesus to the Jerusalem Temple, they are greeted by Simeon, who embraces the baby, and Anna, the New Testament’s only prophetess, shown at right with a scroll, in this 1342 tempera painting by Ambrogio Lorenzetti. Simeon instantly and independently recognizes Jesus as messiah. Anna begins to preach: “She came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.” Both are quicker than Mary to comprehend who Jesus is. Uffizi/Scala/Art Resource, NY

Being first to hear doesn’t always mean being first to understand. In Luke’s birth narrative, Mary is the first to be told that Jesus will be the messiah. Luke adds that she “treasures the words” the angel Gabriel speaks to her. But Mary is also puzzled by the divine message; she is “perplexed” when the angel greets her and must “ponder” the meaning of his words (Luke 1:29; see also 2:19). In this, Mary contrasts sharply with Simeon and Anna, two elderly individuals who happen to be in the Temple when Joseph and Mary bring the infant Jesus to Jerusalem for the first time.

According to Luke 2:22–24, “[Joseph and Mary] brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord’ [quoting Exodus 13:2, 12]) and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons’ [based on Leviticus 12:2–8].”

At the Temple, the family is approached by a man named Simeon, who has been told by the Holy Spirit that he will not die until he has seen the messiah. (The same Spirit told him to go to the Temple that day, too.) Simeon takes Jesus in his arms and praises God: “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:28–32). Having seen the messiah, Simeon is now prepared to die.

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Anna then approaches the Holy Family. She, too, recognizes Jesus as messiah, but she has a very different reaction: “At that moment, she came and began to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). She is 84 years old, according to Luke, and she does not want to die: She wants to proselytize. Like the disciples who will follow her, she is driven to bear witness to what she has seen. Mary was the first to have the good news announced to her, but Anna is the first woman to understand fully and proclaim the good news.

This is because in addition to being a proselytizer, Anna is a “prophetess” (Luke 2:36). In fact, she is the only woman in the New Testament explicitly described as a “prophetess.” She then stands in the line of figures like the judge, military leader and prophetess Deborah and the Jerusalem prophetess Huldah, who, in the days of King Josiah, was asked to verify that an ancient scroll (a form of Deuteronomy) discovered during Temple renovations was indeed the word of God (2 Kings 22).

Unlike Simeon, Anna is not just visiting the Temple for the day; she is there all the time. According to Luke, Anna “never left the Temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day” (Luke 2:37). Perhaps she was part of some sort of order of widows (Luke tells us her husband died after only seven years of marriage) who had specific religious functions in the Temple. She may have been able to undertake this role in the Temple because she was no longer in periodic states of ritual impurity caused by menstruation.

Learn more about Anna in Robin Gallaher Branch’s Bible History Daily article “Anna in the Bible.”

Mary startles when Gabriel and God the Father appear in her home and interrupt her prayers. In Lorenzo Lotto’s unusual rendition of the Annunciation, dated to 1535, Mary’s cat is equally frightened by the divine apparition. According to Luke, Mary treasures the angel’s message, but does not fully understand it. Only after years of “pondering the message in her heart” does she become a true follower of Jesus.” Museo Civico, Recanati, Italy/Scala/Art Resource, NY.

Luke may also have seen Anna as the second witness in or around the Temple needed to validate Jesus’ significance. Deuteronomy 19:15 stresses the importance of having two witnesses to validate an event.

The pairing of Simeon and Anna reflects Luke’s penchant for male-female parallelism when he writes about the recipients of divine blessing and salvation. The story of Jesus’ birth is framed by two such stories—that of Elizabeth and Zechariah in Luke 1 and Anna and Simeon in Luke 2. Interestingly, in both, the woman is portrayed as the more positive example of discipleship. The women are not only more receptive to the message, they are more willing to act upon it, with Elizabeth realizing that her cousin is carrying the messiah and praising God for this blessing and Anna spreading the good news.

Alfred Plummer, in his classic commentary on Luke, suggested that the difference between Anna and Simeon provides a clue to Luke as a salvation historian, a chronicler of the mighty acts of God for his people through the ages. Yes, a messiah has arrived, as Simeon recognizes, but, as the prophetess Anna suggests, a new era, with a new and living voice of prophecy, has at the same time dawned. 1 In this new era, the living voice of God will continue to speak about the messianic one. Anna is the first in a line of prophetic disciples who will speak about Jesus to all who were looking for the redemption of Israel.

Not everyone can be a prophet, however. Mary, for example, does not fully understand what Anna immediately recognizes. And she won’t for several years.

Twelve years after the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, the Holy Family returns to Jerusalem and Jesus returns to the Temple, this time by himself. Mary and Joseph search for him frantically for three days. When at last they find him listening to and asking questions of the teachers in the Temple, Mary asks, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” Jesus responds, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But, Luke reports, “they did not understand what he said to them … [but] his mother treasured all these things in her heart” (Luke 2:48–51). The late New Testament scholar Raymond Brown wrote: “Luke’s idea is that complete acceptance of the word of God, complete understanding of who Jesus is, and complete discipleship is not yet possible. This will come through the ministry of Jesus and particularly through the cross and resurrection.”

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Clearly, Luke is not painting an idealized portrait of Mary or Joseph. Rather, he paints a very human and realistic picture of Mary and Joseph as good parents, anxious, concerned, striving to be obedient and understanding, but not yet comprehending. Brown adds, however, that “Luke does not leave Mary on the negative note of misunderstanding. Rather in 2.51 [“his mother treasured all these things …”] he stresses her retention of what she has not yet understood and … her continuing search to understand.” 2

Of course, in the end, Luke portrays Mary as successfully making the spiritual journey into the family of faith; in Acts 1:14, when the apostles gather in the upper room after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, Mary is with them. But the story of Simeon and Anna suggests Mary had much to learn before she could enter into the Kingdom, and into the spiritual family of faith, which they already belonged to, and which is to be the primary family of Jesus in the eschatological age.

Luke’s Christmas story is full of surprising reversals of fortunes and roles, in which outsiders become more intimate associates than family members, and in which women play a more active role then men. In this way Luke both prepares for and signals one of his major themes in the Gospel of Luke and in Acts—the least, the last and the lost are becoming the most, the first and the found with Jesus’ coming. Luke portrays the rise of a form of Judaism that would rely on the testimony of women as well as men, and that would empower them once again to fulfill roles like Miriam of old.

The first Christmas and the Christ child come at a particular point in time, but for many, like Mary and Joseph, the significance of the event is only understood incrementally and over the course of many years. But the prophetic insight into God’s intentions is a gift which keeps on giving and renewing the people of God. And at the outset of a long chain of such prophetic insights stand Simeon and Anna, one satisfied that prophecy has been fulfilled and the other pointing to the future, a future as bright as the promises of God.

“Mary, Simeon or Anna” by Ben Witherington III originally appeared in Bible Review , Winter 2005. The article was first republished in Bible History Daily on February 12, 2013.

1. See Alfred Plummer, Luke , International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1905), p. 71. 2. Raymond E. Brown and Karl P. Donfried, eds., Mary in the New Testament (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1978), pp. 161–162.

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[…] was coming. Simeon was overjoyed and immediately recognized Jesus as the Messiah. Here is a super informative post that goes into more […]

Jet, there is not a single iota of physical evidence excepted by unbiased searchers, professors of religion and archaeology to prove that any of the characters in either the Old Testament or the New Testament existed who were “religious characters” such as Solomon, David, Abraham, Noah, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the apostles, or even Paul.

It appears that all of these characters are fairytales characters. And yet we have that physical evidence in the millions of human beings who existed including their bones, tombs, statues of their likenesses by many individuals who saw them in person during their lifetime, and yet no one even drew a picture of Jesus during his life, or made a statue, not even a gentile who is allowed to, nor did Jesus Mary Joseph or Paul write a single word by their own hand or carve anything in stone as evidence that they existed.

And again, we have cave painting going back 35,000 years, with their handprints and fingerprints showing that they actually existed. But Jesus couldn’t write a thing an Aramic or Greek and even though he is considered God incarnate he could not have it hidden so that future generations could prove that he existed?

No matter how you slice it, biblical archaeology is nothing more than an extension of Christian apologetics which basically is just teaching Christian how to lie.

While considering Dr. Witherington’s question, I would like to ask, “How about Elizabeth, wife of Zachariah, whose response to Mary’s arrival plainly states that the Spirit revealed to her the identity of the unborn Messiah?” Luke 1:41-43 reads, “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ” If Mary were first to know, then surely Elizabeth was second, or if Mary did not realize, then Eizabeth was first to know.

The presentations by all, are excellent and non-controversial. The wisdom of Almighty God is unsearchable! Romans 11:33-34 and Isaiah 40:28. Fear God, love God and honor God for the multitude of things he has done in our behalf, the love He has given us and the graciousness He has shown us through His Son and the Holy Spirit! God is testing us everyday and has given us the right to make our own choices. May Almighty God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit and Christianity be our guiding lights, our safety nets and our inspiration for loving happiness with Almighty God! Amen!

ben witherington and all readers,

my name is david snyder. i am a veterinarian in texas and i am catholic! i have a tremendous teachin about the physiologic process a body experiences, during crucifixion. i was searching for private visions by people who have had additional explanations, suvh as the annunciation. i know PROTESTANTS don”t credit private interpretations. If you ever want to read something that fills in the blanks an,d plays out like a movie, read MYSTICAL CITY OF GOD by SISTER MARY of AGREEDA. Keeping with SOLO SCIPTURUAE, we have left out the first procession of CORPUS CHRISTI, which is MARY visiting ELIZABETH. SCRIPTURE, proclaims elizabeth asking in wonder, “how is it that the MOTHER of my LORD comes to me?” i could go on and on

Adding to what David said, Two important points, to say the least:

1. Gabriel made it quite clear to Mary who is Jesus: “And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call him Jesus. He shall be great, and men will know him for the Son of the most High; the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob eternally; his kingdom shall never have an end.”

2. In response, Mary made it quite clear to Gabriel that she understood: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be unto me according to thy word.”

3. Mary then announced to Elizabeth (and the world): “My soul magnifies the Lord; my spirit has found joy in God, who is my Saviour, because he has looked graciously upon the lowliness of his handmaid. Behold, from this day forward all generations will count me blessed; because he who is mighty, he whose name is holy, has wrought for me his wonders. He has mercy upon those who fear him, from generation to generation; he has done valiantly with the strength of his arm, driving the proud astray in the conceit of their hearts; he has put down the mighty from their seat, and exalted the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty-handed. He has protected his servant Israel, keeping his merciful design in remembrance, according to the promise which he made to our forefathers, Abraham and his posterity for evermore.”

Exactly. Mary knew.

Amen brother! Article states Mary had much to learn before she could enter the kingdom of heaven??? What nonsense.! All those degrees and the guy can’t figure it out.

John in the womb.

GOD THE FATHER, HOLY SPIRIT, JESUS AND MARY AT THE TEMPLE It was Mary and Joseph’s job to bring up Jesus the Son of Man, as Jesus often referred to himself, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord to be a responsible adult in the Jewish culture. It was God the Father’s and Holy Spirit’s job to prepare Jesus until he was ready to start His ministry. At the Temple scene, Mary definatly shows she knows this by how she address him after looking for him for three days. She is not shaking in her boots because inwardly Jesus is the Son of God. Which she knows fullwell, she had pondered this in her heart. God gave her a job to do and she is doing it.

Jesus, the adolecent, wasn’t sining or lying here he was jumping the gun. You can be sure God the father and Holy Spirit let Him know about it. Which scripture acknowledges by saying “Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.” He was obident and honored them for another 18 yrs until the God given time had come and He revelled himself by changing the water into wine at the Cana wedding.

It wasn’t that Mary had forgotten that Jesus was also the Son of God that she didn’t understand. She didn’t understand why he was saying and revelling himself at this age – God had her back on this one!

THE WEDDING AT CANA It is evident from scripture, by the fact that the people in His hometown and His siblings didn’t know He was the Messia (after thirty yrs), that Mary, Joseph or Jesus ever revealed this.

Mary at the Cana wedding sensed, maybe with the Holy Spirit’s nudging, that perhaps this was the time for Jesus to reveall him self in a big way. He had been baptized and already started gathering his disciples.

Instead of the adolecent’s response, Jesus said this time, “my time has not yet come.” Followed immediatly by changing the water into wine.

The song ‘Mary did you know’ yes Mary did know that her son – God’s son – was capable of not only performing miracles but of saving any one who has faith in Him from eternal death and blessing them with eternal life.

A tour to the pyramids of Giza will reveal some fascinating facts about the historical past and tradition of historical Egypt.

And nobody’s recognizing John the Baptist’s “testimony” to knowing who Jesus was…from the womb!

For such a learned scholar he does not read throughly all of Luke. Elizabeth was the first to call Mary the mother of my Lord! Mary also tells the Archangel Gabriel she agrees to having the Son of God. And Mary’s Magnificent states her understanding of what is happening within her. Further Zacharias announces who is son John shall be and who Mary’s Son shall be in his discourse before Jesus or John are even born.

I enjoyed your article and found only one flaw which to some lends itself to your research or thoroughness of it. Luke says of Anna: “And there was Anna … she was of great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; And she was a widow fourscore and four years, …” You give Anna the age of 84…however considering girls were approximately 15 when wed, she lived with her husband 7 years and had been a widow 84 years. Anna was about 106 years old – depending upon when she wed. Does not detract from the subject matter, but some would doubt your research capabilities. I am surprised no one else caught this prior to publication.

Good Stuff Ben and I love preaching on Simeon and Anna over the years, thanks. But also wanted to add two points: 1) it is said in the New Testament that Philip had four daughters who prophesied and certainly could be considered prophetesses, with Anna not the only one:

Acts 21:8-9 On the next day we who were Paul’s companions departed and came to Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.

2) I’m not sure why Simeon’s reaponse has to be considered “less than” Anna’s? At least that seems to be what you imply. Hey, if the Holy Spirit tells Simeon he will not die till he sees the Messiah, and if he’s been waiting his entire life perhaps, and he’s faithful and in the temple and he comes and serves as that second witness ~ that may be Gods total will for his life’s ending, different from Anna’s, but just as powerful.

Who are we to really imply something different for the amazing Simeon and his song??!!!

Nicely done Ben. It has provided much food for thought. One issue does provide some hesitation for me though. In referring to Alfred Plummer’s Commentary on Luke, (along with your proposal that Luke’s women were “more positive example’s of discipleship”) you write, “Yes, a messiah has arrived, as Simeon recognizes, but, as the prophetess Anna suggests, a new era, with a new and living voice of prophecy, has at the same time dawned.” That is quite a leap as Luke offers only a one-line summation of her input after he quotes Simeon at length. Furthermore, Joseph seems to be Mary’s equal regarding “getting it.” Let’s not forget that God spoke to Joseph in dreams and he obeyed each time.

I like to think it was the shepherds. They were given a sign – a baby “swaddled, laying in a manger.” If (as some scholars claim) this band of shepherds were those caring for the temple flocks, they would recognize this treatment. (Apparently) this was how new lambs were inspected for defects and kept unmarred for eventual sacrifice for forgiveness of sins. No wonder they “spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,” (luke 2:17).

Makes sense to me.

OK, so I have a slightly different interpretation when it comes to Joseph and Mary finding Jesus after he’s been missing for three days. Jesus mouthing off to his mother in public after they have been frantic after losing him in a larger metropolitan area for three days. She’s pondering all right, she’s pondering just how hard she’s gonna tan his little hide when she gets him home.

August 22,2014 2:02 am. IVE JUST FINISH READING ANNA IS A PROPHETESS FOUND LUKE 2:36. Your statement says she is the only woman in New Testament explicitly described as a prophetess. Teaching Women of the Bible. we are in the 8th month. Its amazing all the women named or not named. God bless you and your work.

Didn’t Jesus’ family try to kidnap him at one point during his ministry. Doesn’t it say that they thought he had gone mad? Seems to me like they didn’t “get it”.

So you are saying that when the Shepard’s and the wise men came Mary had no idea Jesus was Messiah? Also, what she went through when almost stone, seems many want to believe Mary just forgot all that, As well as, all the towns people. This is a stand that is very difficult for me to follow how one gets there, since Mary was told by Gabriel, John (to be the Baptist) at 6 mos responded, Elizabeth told her, again all the torment when she rtnd from Elizabeth’s, the shepard’s and the wise men– the woman would have had to of had amnesia not to know. Are there verses I have missed about her memory leave her?>

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Jesus was never the Messiah ! He could not be as he did not fulfill the requirements, i.e. bringing peace to earth and rebuilding the temple. Additionally he was not a direct descendant of David. So what? See who and when the Apostles wrote their stories.

I want to add: each jewish month has exactly 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, 3 1/3 seconds.

we can know when Jesus was born. Zacharias the father of John the baptist was from the house of Abija, we read in Luke 1.5. In Davids time the yearly service of the highpriest priests was divided in 24 houses, each makíng the service in the temple in Jerusalem for half a month. . The house of Abijahs servicetime was the number 8, thus the second half of the 4th month of the jewish year which was about June. The jewish year in ancient Israel times began in spring, the month of Nisan ,which is about our March/April . We then count 3 and a half months from 1. Nisan till the begnning of the service of the house of Abija, which gives us end June as the earliest possible conception date for John, when his father Zacharia went home after his templeservice and went to his wife. 6 months later, thus about December Jesus was conceived in Mary, and born 9 months later which gives us September for the birth of Jesus which is the time of the feast of Sukkoth which is now fullfilled in the coming of the Word of God to dwell among us in a human body: Greek skenos means tent and figuratively the human body . thus the feast of Sukkoth is a symbol for God dwellling among us in Jesus . Hebrew Sukkot is the plural from Suka booth, tent, tabernacle. . The jewish month has only about 29 days .please google the theme here and you will find all detailed informations for what I wrote here.

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I like the stress on Mary and Joseph as good parents who nevertheless don’t get it. One of the themes of Jesus in the Synoptic tradition seems to be the emphasis that one’s own family can become a stumbling block to their walk of faith. Some of the biggest misunderstandings come from people who are related to Jesus.

I think one of the things Mary was “pondering in her heart” must have related to the Shepherds’ visit at the manger. They likely would have communicated to her the sign they had been given by the angels (you will find the babe swaddled and laying in a manger.). If these shepherds were in charge of birthing the sacrificial lambs for the nearby temple, as some scholars claim, then this sign would present some disturbing images regarding jesus’ future.

Apparently sacrificial lambs were wrapped (swaddled) at birth and lain in a manger as they were being inspected for blemishes that would disqualify them for sacrifice. Keeping them wrapped prevented them from becoming blemished later on. Even modern day shepherds outfit new lambs in protective coats, especially in cold weather. A suffering messiah was not yet on anyone’s radar, so I think Mary indeed had a lot to mull over as she put all the extraordinary information together regarding her first born.

Nice job Susanna! You’re on the money. Plus, even before Mary was with the Apostle’s during Christ’s ressurecction, she also (quite a few years before) told Jesus’ friends (Apostles) to do what he tells them at the wedding in Cana! She knew who he was! That is also why she stood at the cross and did not kneel.

“Both are quicker than Mary to comprehend who Jesus is” This statement seems rather presumptive to me. You seem to have forgotten about Elizabeth’s greeting to Mary many months before Mary met Anna at the temple. Surely you’ll recall how the unborn John the Baptist leaped in his mother’s womb at the presence of Mary and the unborn baby Jesus? Elizabeth proclaims “How is it that the mother of our Lord should come to me?” My bet is even if Mary, as you infer, had no idea who Jesus was, then Elizabeth was the first to notify her of the significance of Jesus. Even better, Mary understood that she had indeed been greatly blessed, and that “all generations would call [her] Blessed.” Anna wasn’t there to tell Mary something she didn’t already know. Seems to me, she was there to let the rest of us know.

I was wondering if you ever thought of changing the structure of your website? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having 1 or 2 images.

Maybe you could space it out better?

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POPE BENEDICT XVI: HOMILY ON THE PRESENTATION OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE.

HOMILY 2 February 2006

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today’s F east of Jesus’ Presentation at the temple 40 days after his birth places before our eyes a special moment in the life of the Holy Family: Mary and Joseph, in accordance with Mosaic law, took the tiny Jesus to the temple of Jerusalem to offer him to the Lord (cf. Lk 2: 22). Simeon and Anna, inspired by God, recognized that Child as the long-awaited Messiah and prophesied about him . We are in the presence of a mystery, both simple and solemn, in which Holy Church celebrates Christ, the Anointed One of the Father, the firstborn of the new humanity.

The evocative candlelight procession at the beginning of our celebration has made us relive the majestic entrance, as we sang in the Responsorial Psalm, of the One who is “the King of glory”, “the Lord, mighty in battle” ( Ps 24[23]: 7, 8). But who is the powerful God who enters the temple? It is a Child; it is the Infant Jesus in the arms of his Mother, the Virgin Mary. The Holy Family was complying with what the Law prescribed: the purification of the mother, the offering of the firstborn child to God and his redemption through a sacrifice.

In the First Reading the Liturgy speaks of the oracle of the Prophet Malachi: “The Lord… will suddenly come to his temple” ( Mal 3: 1). These words communicated the full intensity of the desire that had given life to the expectation of the Jewish People down the centuries. “The angel of the Covenant” at last entered his house and submitted to the Law: he came to Jerusalem to enter God’s house in an attitude of obedience.

The meaning of this act acquires a broader perspective in the passage from the Letter to the Hebrews, proclaimed as the Second Reading today. Christ, the mediator who unites God and man , abolishing distances, eliminating every division and tearing down every wall of separation, is presented to us here.

Christ comes as a new “merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make expiation for the sins of the people” ( Heb 2: 17). Thus, we note that mediation with God no longer takes place in the holiness-separation of the ancient priesthood, but in liberating solidarity with human beings.

While yet a Child, he sets out on the path of obedience that he was to follow to the very end. The Letter to the Hebrews highlights this clearly when it says: “In the days of his earthly life Jesus offered up prayers and supplications… to him who was able to save him from death…. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and being made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him” (cf. Heb 5: 7-9).

The first person to be associated with Christ on the path of obedience, proven faith and shared suffering was his Mother, Mary . The Gospel text portrays her in the act of offering her Son: an unconditional offering that involves her in the first person.

Mary is the Mother of the One who is “the glory of [his] people Israel” and a “ light for revelation to the Gentiles “, but also “ a sign that is spoken agains t” (cf. Lk 2: 32, 34). And in her immaculate soul, she herself was to be pierced by the sword of sorrow, thus showing that her role in the history of salvation did not end in the mystery of the Incarnation but was completed in loving and sorrowful participation in the death and Resurrection of her Son.

Bringing her Son to Jerusalem, the Virgin Mother offered him to God as a true Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. She held him out to Simeon and Anna as the proclamation of redemption; she presented him to all as a light for a safe journey on the path of truth and love. The words that came to the lips of the elderly Simeon: “My eyes have seen your salvation” ( Lk 2: 30), are echoed in the heart of the prophetess Anna. These good and devout people, enveloped in Christ’s light, were able to see in the Child Jesus “the consolation of Israel” ( Lk 2: 25). So it was that their expectation was transformed into a light that illuminates history.

Simeon was the bearer of an ancient hope and the Spirit of the Lord spoke to his heart: for this reason he could contemplate the One whom numerous prophets and kings had desired to see: Christ, light of revelation for the Gentiles.

He recognized that Child as the Saviour, but he foresaw in the Spirit that the destinies of humanity would be played out around him and that he would have to suffer deeply from those who rejected him; he proclaimed the identity and mission of the Messiah with words that form one of the hymns of the newborn Church, radiant with the full communitarian and eschatological exultation of the fulfilment of the expectation of salvation. The enthusiasm was so great that to live and to die were one and the same, and the “light” and “glory” became a universal revelation.

Anna is a “prophetess”, a wise and pious woman who interpreted the deep meaning of historical events and of God’s message concealed within them. Consequently, she could “ give thanks to God “ and “[speak of the Child] to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem ” ( Lk 2: 38). Her long widowhood devoted to worship in the temple, fidelity to weekly fasting and participation in the expectation of those who yearned for the redemption of Israel culminated in her meeting with the Child Jesus.

Dear brothers and sisters, on this Feast of the Presentation of the Lord the Church is celebrating the Day of Consecrated Life. This is an appropriate occasion to praise the Lord and thank him for the precious gift represented by the consecrated life in its different forms; at the same time it is an incentive to encourage in all the People of God knowledge and esteem for those who are totally consecrated to God.

Indeed, just as Jesus’ life in his obedience and dedication to the Father is a living parable of the “God-with-us”, so the concrete dedication of consecrated persons to God and to their brethren becomes an eloquent sign for today’s world of the presence of God’s Kingdom.

Your way of living and working can vividly express full belonging to the one Lord; placing yourselves without reserve in the hands of Christ and of the Church is a strong and clear proclamation of God’s presence in a language understandable to our contemporaries . This is the first service that the consecrated life offers to the Church and to the world. Consecrated persons are like watchmen among the People of God who perceive and proclaim the new life already present in our history.

I now address you in a special way, dear brothers and sisters who have embraced the vocation of special consecration, to greet you with affection and thank you warmly for your presence. I extend a special greeting to Archbishop Franc Rodé, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, and to his collaborators who are concelebrating with me at this Holy Mass.

May the Lord renew in you and in all consecrated people each day the joyful response to his freely given and faithful love. Dear brothers and sisters, like lighted candles, always and everywhere shine with the love of Christ, Light of the world. May Mary Most Holy, the consecrated Woman, help you to live to the full your special vocation and mission in the Church for the world’s salvation.

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI St. Peter’s Basilica Saturday, 2 February 2013

In his account of the infancy of Jesus St Luke emphasizes how faithful Mary and Joseph were to the Law of the Lord. They fulfilled with profound devotion all the prescriptions prescribed following the birth of a firstborn male. Two of them were very ancient prescriptions: one concerns the mother and the other the newborn child. The woman was required to abstain from ritual practices for forty days, after which she was to offer a double sacrifice: a lamb as a burnt offering and a turtle-dove as a sin offering; but if she were poor, she could offer a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons (cf. Lev 12:1-8).

St Luke explained that Mary and Joseph offer the sacrifice of the poor (cf. 2:24) in order to emphasize that Jesus was born into a family of simple people, lowly but of steadfast faith: a family that belonged to the poor of Israel who form the true People of God. For the first-born male who, according to Mosaic Law, was set apart for God, redemption was prescribed instead, established as an offering of five shekels to be paid to a priest in any place . This was in everlasting memory of the fact that in the time of Herod God saved the firstborn of the Jews (cf. Ex 13:11-16).

It is important to note that these two acts — the purification of the mother and the redemption of the son — did not require a visit to the Temple. However, Mary and Joseph wished to fulfil all the prescriptions in Jerusalem, and St Luke shows us how the entire scene converges on the Temple and thus focuses on Jesus who enters it. And it is here, precisely through the prescriptions of the Law, that the principal event is transformed, namely, it becomes the “presentation” of Jesus in the Temple of God, which means the act of offering the Son of the Most High to the Father who sent him (cf. Lk 1:32, 35).

The Evangelist’s account is confirmed by the words of the Prophet Malachi which we heard at the beginning of the First Reading: “Behold”, says the Lord, “I send 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, behold, he is coming… he will purify the sons of Levi…. Then the offering… will be pleasing to the Lord” (3:1, 3, 4).

These words clearly make no mention of a child and yet they are fulfilled in Jesus because, thanks to the faith of his parents, he was taken to the Temple “immediately”; and in the act of his “presentation”, that is, the “offering” of him in person to God the Father, the themes of sacrifice and of the priesthood clearly transpire, as in the passage from the prophet. The Child Jesus, who is immediately presented in the Temple, is the same person who, as an adult, would purify the Temple (cf. Jn 2:13-22; Mk 11:15, 19ff). Above all he would make himself the sacrifice and the High Priest of the new Covenant.

This is also the perspective of the Letter to the Hebrews, a passage of which was proclaimed in the Second Reading, to strengthen the theme of the new priesthood: a priesthood — inaugurated by Jesus — which is existential : “For because he himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted ” (Heb 2:18). So it is that we also discover the topic of suffering, very pronounced in the Gospel passage in which Simeon imparts his prophecy concerning both the Child and the Mother: “Behold, this Child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and, [to Mary], a sword will pierce through your own soul also)” (Lk 2:34-35).

The “salvation” that Jesus brought to his people, and which he embodies in himself, passed through the Cross, through the violent death that he was to vanquish and to transform with the sacrifice of his life through love. This sacrifice was already foretold in the act of the Presentation in the Temple , an act without any doubt motivated by the traditions of the old Covenant, but that was deeply enlivened by the fullness of faith and love, which correspond to the fullness of time, to the presence of God and of his Holy Spirit in Jesus. Indeed, the Spirit moved over the whole scene of the presentation of Jesus in the Temple and in particular over Simeon, but also over Anna .

The Spirit “Paraclete” brings consolation to Israel and motivates the steps and moves the hearts of those who await him. He is the Spirit who prompted the prophetic words of Simeon and Anna, words of blessing and praise of God, of faith in his Annointed One, of thanksgiving, for at last our eyes could see and our arms embrace “your salvation” (cf. 2:30).

“A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (2:32). With these words Simeon describes the Messiah of the Lord, at the end of his hymn of blessing. The topic of light, that reechoes the first and second songs of the Servant of the Lord in the Deutero-Isaiah (cf. Is 42:6; 49:6), is vividly present in this liturgy. It was in fact opened by an evocative procession, in which the Superiors and General Superiors of the Institutes of consecrated life represented here took part and carried lit candles. This sign, specific to the liturgical tradition of this Feast, is deeply expressive. It shows the beauty and value of the consecrated life as a reflection of Christ’s light; a sign that recalls Mary’s entry into the Temple. The Virgin Mary, the Consecrated Woman par excellence, carried in her arms the Light himself, the Incarnate Word who came to dispel the darkness of the world with God’s love.

Dear consecrated brothers and sisters, you were all represented in that symbolic pilgrimage, which in the Year of Faith expresses even better your gathering together in the Church to be strengthened in faith and to renew the offering of yourselves to God. I address my most cordial greetings with affection to each one of you and to your Institutes and I thank you for coming. In the light of Christ, with the many charisms of contemplative and apostolic life, you cooperate in the Church’s life and mission in the world.

In this spirit of gratitude and communion I would like to address three invitations to you, so that you may fully enter through that “door of faith” which is always open to us (Apostolic Letter, Porta Fidei , n. 1).

I invite you in the first place to nourish a faith that can illuminate your vocation. For this I urge you to treasure, as on an inner pilgrimage, the memory of the “first love” with which the Lord Jesus Christ warmed your hearts, not out of nostalgia but in order to feed that flame. And for this it is necessary to be with him, in the silence of adoration; and thereb y reawaken the wish to share — and the joy of sharing — in his life, his decisions, the obedience of faith, the blessedness of the poor and the radical nature of love. Starting ever anew from this encounter of love, you leave everything to be with him and like him, to put yourselves at the service of God and your brothers and sisters (cf. Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata , n. 1).

In the second place I invite you to have a faith that can recognize the wisdom of weakness. In the joys and afflictions of the present time, when the harshness and weight of the cross make themselves felt, do not doubt that the kenosis of Christ is already a paschal victory. Precisely in our limitations and weaknesses as human beings we are called to live conformation with Christ in an all-encompassing commitment which anticipates the eschatological perfection , to the extent that this is possible in time ( ibid ., n. 16). In a society of efficiency and success, your life, marked by the “humility” and frailty of the lowly, of empathy with those who have no voice, becomes an evangelical sign of contradiction.

Lastly, I invite you to renew the faith that makes you pilgrims bound for the future. By its nature the consecrated life is a pilgrimage of the spirit in quest of a Face that is sometimes revealed and sometimes veiled: “ Faciem tuam, Domine, requiram ” (Ps 27[26]:8). May this be the constant yearning of your heart, the fundamental criterion that guides you on your journey, both in small daily steps and in the most important decisions.

Do not join the ranks of the prophets of doom who proclaim the end or meaninglessness of the consecrated life in the Church in our day; rather, clothe yourselves in Jesus Christ and put on the armour of light — as St Paul urged (cf. Rom 13:11-14) — keeping awake and watchful. St Chromatius of Aquileia wrote: “Distance this peril from us so that we are never overcome by the heavy slumber of infidelity. Rather may he grant us his grace and his mercy, that we may watch, ever faithful to him. In fact our fidelity can watch in Christ ( Sermon 32, 4).

Dear brothers and sisters, the joy of consecrated life necessarily passes through participation in the cross of Christ. This is how it ways for Mary Most Holy. Hers is the suffering of the heart that is one with the Heart of the Son of God, pierced by love. From this wound God’s light flows and also from the suffering, sacrifice and self-giving of consecrated people who live through their love for God and for others, that shines the very light that evangelizes nations. On this feast I express in a special way to you, consecrated people, the hope that your lives may always have the flavour of evangelical parresia , so that in you the Good News may be lived, witnessed to, and proclaimed and may shine out as a word of truth (cf. Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei , n. 6). Amen.

Source: https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2013/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20130202_vita-consacrata.html Emphasis mine.

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Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple

“And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb” (Lk 2:21).

During His ministry, our Lord stated that He came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it (Mt 5:17). In order to fulfill that law, the Lord was circumcised when He was eight days old. As God, He was not bound by any law, but as St. Paul said, was born under the law in order to redeem those who were under the law. In other words, the Lord of the Universe humbly submitted Himself to the Mosaic Law. Scripture tells us that after the days of her purification were complete, according to the laws of Moses, our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Joseph took the Child Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem to present Him to God. As it was written in the law, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord” (Ex 13:2).

The Feast of the Presentation of our Lord in the Temple is the celebration of this time when our Lord Jesus Christ humbled Himself to come and dwell among us, not only fulfilling the Law and Prophets, but also submitting Himself to persecution, torture and death in order to redeem each of us.

The Lord of the universe Who created us all submitted Himself to suffering even unto death for us, yet so many times we are unwilling to go out of our way to help one another. It is good for us, when faced with trials and tribulations or even inconveniences in our daily lives, to reflect on the humility of our God.

From Johnnette Benkovic’s Graceful Living: Meditations to Help You Grow Closer to God Day by Day

“Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.” —Luke 2:34–35

Johnnette’s Meditation

How have some of my “secret thoughts” found their way into the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and how has she responded? Consider those sufferings, trials, prayers of petition, and loved ones you have entrusted to her.”

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory! We love and adore You and give you all thanks for Your mercy, kindness and love. Help us dear Lord, to remember Your commandment, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Give us the grace to fulfill Your words, Lord. In Your holy name we pray. Amen.

image: Fra Angelico , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, 2 February 2020

February 2, 2020 | by Paul S. Nancarrow

The Feast of the Presentation is the final installment in the cycle of liturgies for Christmas. It may seem a little strange to be thinking about Christmas here in February; after all, in the timetables of secular culture and marketing, Christmas is long over, we’ve blown past New Year’s, the candies are out for Valentine’s Day, and sales for Presidents Day and St Patrick’s are just around the corner! Who has time to look back toward Christmas now ?

But the Presentation has a long history in Christian tradition and practice. The Feast is attested in Jerusalem beginning around 350. In 542 Emperor Justinian introduced it at Constantinople, as a gesture of thanksgiving for the end of a time of plague. It is recorded in the western church between 687-701, when Pope Sergius directed that the feast be celebrated with a procession of candles and the singing of the canticle Nunc dimittis , taken from the Luke reading for the day. The custom developed of blessing candles for use in church all through the liturgical year on this day, from which the feast takes its other historical name, Candlemas. In Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Anglican liturgical calendars — and now in the RCL as well — the Presentation is considered a feast of the Lord, a handful of holy days that can take precedence over a Sunday. Therefore on this day we break from the ordinary round of post-Epiphany readings to look back toward the Christmas cycle. As a Christmas-connected day falling long after the cultural Christmas holiday has passed, the Presentation is a good reminder that liturgical time, the time of God’s unfolding aims in history, does not always flow according to our agendas and expectations. More than that, it reminds us that God’s presence and activity is often revealed to us in the fulfilling of expectations in most un expected ways.

Malachi 3:1-4 sets the expectation for the entire sequence. The date of this oracle is uncertain, but most scholars tie it to the early part of the fifth century BCE, when the Temple was being rebuilt but worship and social life had not yet been stabilized and were subject to abuses. Into this volatile situation the prophet speaks God’s promise that “my messenger” is being sent to prepare the way for God’s arrival, and that “the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.” The “messenger of the covenant” who is coming will be a source of “delight,” but will also challenge the status quo: “Who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?” the prophet asks. The prophet describes the “messenger” in language that would become familiar in the developing messianic tradition: the messenger will be “like a refiner’s fire and like fuller’s soap”; he will “refine” and “purify” the people through a process of transformation that will be outwardly destructive, like fire, yet will bring out the inner truth of what God intends them to be. This is especially important for “the descendants of “Levi,” for when they are properly purified, they will “present offerings to the Lord in righteousness” so that “the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old.”

The core of the promise, then, is that a messianic figure will appear in the Temple and will purify the liturgical life of the temple priesthood and, through them, the entire city and people. The prophet sees right-relationship with God, expressed in public liturgy, as central to right-relationship with each other in political and social life throughout the community. This kind of linkage of right-worship and right-society seems alien to us, given our long cultural history of keeping a wall of separation between worship and the conduct of social life, deeming the former to be a matter of personal preference and the latter a commitment to public values. The ancient prophets knew of no such separation, and drew a direct connection between the failure to honor God with offerings and acts of justice, and the failure to honor the poor, the orphaned and widowed, and the marginalized with place and voice and support in society. From this perspective, the purifying of Temple worship, and of the personal lives of those charged with leading Temple worship, was a necessary precondition of restoring a just and peaceable society in Jerusalem.

On its own, this passage invites us to consider how our own liturgical and worship practice does or does not inform and support our efforts to create just and peaceable communities and social orders in our world. While we do not have — and most of us would not want — state-sponsored worship such as Malachi expects, it is still the case for us that the practices of worship — the offerings we make of ourselves, the ways we receive into ourselves the love of God and the call of Jesus to love one another as he loves us — can form in us modes of conduct that build up right-relationship with God and right-relationship with neighbor, not only in the church building but also and more so in our daily lives and occupations. How could our own commitment to purify our participation in worship lead us to deeper commitments to discerning God’s aims and embodying God’s ideals of justice and peace in public life?

On this day, however, the Malachi reading does not so much stand on its own as it contributes to the drama building to a climax in Luke. On this day the key line is “the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.” Simeon and Anna will experience that promise in the Gospel.

Psalm 84 also centers on worship in the Temple, and how the cultic liturgy opens into a “liturgy of life” outside the Temple as well. The psalm is often considered a pilgrim song, expressing the longing of the pilgrim to come from far away and worship in the central shrine. The Temple is a place of security and joy: sparrows and swallows can nest there unmolested, those who live there are happy, those whose hearts are on the pilgrim way will be strengthened, one day in the Temple is better than years elsewhere, to stand at the door of the Temple is better than to be inside a tent of the unrighteous. But even in the midst of this lavish praise for the Temple, it is made clear that the building is not the important thing. What matters is that the building is where “heart and flesh” can “sing for joy to the living God.” What matters is that the building is where “the LORD God” can be known as “sun and shield” who withholds “no good thing” from those who trust and “walk uprightly.” What matters, in the most striking line in the entire psalm, is that the building is where pilgrims may “go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen in Zion.” The Hebrew Scriptures stress over and over that God cannot be seen, and that no image of God is possible; so it is arresting to hear in this psalm that God will be seen in Zion. Even though there was no physical image in the Temple, it is not impossible that worshipers expected to “see” God in the liturgy, and especially in the sacrificial meal where one half of the animal was offered on the altar and the other half cooked and eaten as a feast. The Temple is where God can be “seen” in the conduct of worship that embodies God’s ideals for justice and peace, God’s aims for right-relationships that can transform the people’s lives. Vs. 7 is given an expanded and reinterpreted meaning in Luke, when Simeon and Anna see Jesus and recognize him.

The small section of Psalm 27 offered as an alternative for this day relates directly to the Presentation, calling for the doors of the Temple to be opened for the arrival of the Lord. From the perspective of today’s liturgy (though certainly not in these lines’ context in the original psalm) the lines have a sort of revelatory irony, in that the one who comes to the Temple does not come as a King of glory, mighty in battle, but as an infant child whose mission will upend all ideas of glorified battle and conquering Kings.

Hebrews 2:14-18 also explores a kind of revealing irony. Luke says that Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the Temple to “designate him as holy to the Lord” (more about that ritual in the section on Luke below). But surely, no child in human history needed to be “designated holy” less than Jesus. Mary had received the angel’s promise that “the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). Her kinswoman Elizabeth had, inspired by the Spirit, recognized the child in Mary’s womb as “my Lord” (Luke 1:43). When Mary entered the Temple with Jesus, she knew the child was of God. Why then dedicate him to God? Why then buy him back from God, in place of sacrificing him, as was required of firstborn males (Exodus 13:2, 13)?

Hebrews 2:17 provides an answer: “he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest.” Jesus’ participation in the redemption-of-the-firstborn ceremony, like his joining in John’s baptism of repentance later (Matthew 3:14-15), or his paying of the Temple tax later still (Matthew 17:27), is a sign of his solidarity with the human condition. Although he already belongs to God, although he of all people has no need of repentance, although he is “free” with regard to Temple service, he takes his position with those who must be redeemed, must repent, must make their offering to support the work of worship. The infant Jesus of the Presentation certainly does not have the adult intentionality of the Jesus who is baptized, or who directs Peter to catch a fish that miraculously has a coin in its mouth for the Temple tax; but perhaps this makes his solidarity in the human condition symbolized by the ceremony all the more poignant. Mary and Joseph offer Jesus to God, prefiguring the offering that Jesus will make of himself on the cross. It is because Jesus identifies himself so thoroughly with human reaching out to God in such ceremonies that he is able to make the connection between human need and divine grace. It is because Jesus is himself “tested” in suffering that he is “able to help those who are being tested.”

It is intriguing to consider how Jesus’ participation in the customary liturgy might work in the other direction as well. By joining in the ceremony Jesus joins with all humanity reaching out to God in supplication and dedication. But because he is already holy, already “called the Son of God,” his joining in the ceremony is also a demonstration of God reaching out to human need. Liturgy is a two-way process: it is the human work of the people reaching out to God, and it is at the same time the divine work for the people lifting them to God. In all the moments of Jesus’ life, God gave him initial aims to fulfill ideals of justice and peace and love; Jesus embodied those aims in devoted action, and offered the satisfactions of all his moments to God in fully reciprocating love; from those offered satisfactions, God could then offer new aims, for Jesus and for others, conditioned by the justice and peace and love Jesus accomplished. In process thought, of course, it is true that all actual entities receive aims from God and offer satisfactions to God; Christian faith makes the claim that Jesus performed this receiving and offering to a superlative degree and with a unique intentionality within a human life. This would be true also of moments of Jesus’ life that were ceremonial moments, that were moments of participating in liturgy. In liturgy the pattern of receiving and offering, common to all entities and uniquely accomplished in human life in Jesus, is made more explicit, it is elicited into prominence, so that it can be experienced by worshipers and then intentionally re-enacted in life situations outside formal worship. Jesus’ solidarity with the liturgies of his people — Temple, synagogue, and upper room — creates the opportunity for others to experience the pattern of receiving-and-offering with God that is centrally constitutive of Jesus’ life. It is this that makes him “a merciful and faithful high priest” who can “free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.”

The irony that the one who least needs the liturgy of redemption is the one who most exemplifies the reality of the liturgy of redemption is the contribution of the Hebrews passage to the overall meaning of the Presentation lectionary.

All these themes converge in the story told in Luke 2:22-40 , of the moment when the conduct of a customary liturgy is interrupted and expanded by two inspired re-interpreters. Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the Temple forty days after his birth “to do for him what was customary under the law.” Luke seems to conflate here two separate rites. He refers to “their purification,” actually a ceremony for reintegrating a woman into the worshiping community after having given birth to a male child, as directed in Leviticus 12. It is noteworthy in reference to Leviticus that Mary offers the “pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons” specified for a woman who “cannot afford a sheep.” The verse Luke quotes, however, is from Exodus 13:2, which has less to do with purification than with avoiding the sacrifice of the firstborn son by offering another sacrifice in his place, as Abraham was directed to do for Isaac in Genesis 22:13. It is entirely possible that Mary and Joseph came to the Temple to perform both rites at the same time, as long as they were staying nearby in Bethlehem and before journeying back home to Nazareth; it’s equally possible that Luke simply put the two ceremonies together as a good storytelling device to put Mary and Joseph and Jesus in the Temple where they could be met by Simeon and Anna.

Because that is really the important part of this story. That the holy child will be incorporated into the liturgical life of the people is significant; more significant still is the way this child will transform the customary liturgy.

Simeon had been promised by God that “he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah,” and at this moment he is “guided by the Spirit” to come to the Temple just as Mary and Joseph are arriving with Jesus. With that Spirit-guidance, Simeon recognizes the infant Jesus as the Messiah, the “consolation of Israel,” for whom he has been looking. But what Simeon has recognized is far different from what he most likely expected. The image from Malachi, of a refiner and purifier coming with fire, had been amplified through centuries of messianic expectation — as will be illustrated by John the Baptist in the next chapter of Luke — and was no doubt a significant feature of the “consolation” Simeon looked forward to. But this , this infant in arms, being brought to the Temple with a poor woman’s offering, this was hardly a sign of messianic accomplishment.

And yet Simeon recognizes him. And Simeon stops the young family on their way to the ceremony, takes the child in his arms, and sings a song far more personal and immediate than the psalms that would be chanted in the Temple liturgy — a song, incidentally, that became and has been part of the Christian liturgy for centuries, especially for Vespers and Compline. Looking on Jesus, Simeon sings “my eyes have seen your salvation”; and not only Simeon’s salvation, but the light that God has “prepared in the presence of all peoples” to be “glory to your people Israel” and also “a light for revelation to the Gentiles.” Simeon embraces the universalist version of the messianic hope, seeing the Anointed One not as the one who will defeat all of Israel’s enemies and drive them out, but as the one who will unite Israel’s enemies and all the peoples in a new community in the Spirit. Having seen this light, even if only a glimpse in the infant and not yet the full light of revelation and glory for all, Simeon’s mission is fulfilled, his promise satisfied, and he is ready to be “dismissed” from his life in peace.

While Mary and Joseph are “amazed” at Simeon’s song, he is not yet done with them. He addresses them directly, explaining that their child is a “sign” whose significance will reveal “the inner thoughts” of many, so that they will “rise or fall” in the light of revelation. And Simeon warns Mary that “a sword will pierce your own soul too”; Mary’s “inner thoughts” will be revealed as well, as she struggles to accept her son’s preaching (Mark 3:21), as she watches him die (John 19:26-27), and as she receives the Holy Spirit to proclaim her son and his church (Acts 1:14, 2:1-4). Mary had sung confidently that God would “bring down the powerful from their thrones, and lift up the lowly”, that God would “fill the hungry with good things, and send the rich away empty” in the Great Reversal (Luke 1:52-53); Simeon reminds her that her life will know God’s reversals as well. In all these respects, Simeon sees his messianic expectation fulfilled, but fulfilled in a way he had never expected. It is the gift of the Holy Spirit to him to be able to recognize this unexpected expectation.

While Luke gives Simeon the song and the good lines, the broader witness he puts in the mouth of Anna. As a widow she lives a precarious life, technically protected by Torah but practically often overlooked and undersupported, and she spends all her days in the Temple, fasting and praying, and also relying on the sacred precincts to be a safe place for her, as in Psalm 84. She also recognizes Jesus as the agent of “the redemption of Israel”; but where Simeon speaks this insight only to Mary, Anna “praises God and speaks about the child” to everyone who is in the Temple at the time. What forty days before had been a heavenly message directed to a handful of shepherds is now, for the first time, made a matter of public announcement. Anna is the first of many women in Luke’s Gospel and Acts who will play special roles in bearing witness to Jesus.

It is only after these encounters with Simeon and Anna that Mary and Joseph are able to complete the rituals, “everything required by the law of the Lord,” and return to Nazareth, where Jesus will “grow and become strong, filled with wisdom” until he returns to the Temple and sits among the teachers at age twelve.

Now in one sense Simeon and Anna interrupt the liturgies Mary and Joseph have come to complete with Jesus. Simeon’s song and Anna’s witness are not part of the program for purification of a mother and dedication of a firstborn. But in another sense they expand and reveal the real purpose of these liturgies. Just as Jesus, of all firstborn sons, did not need to be dedicated to God, being already “called the Son of God,” so the ordinary liturgy of dedication would not be “big enough” to hold his significance. By injecting into the occasion his new song, Simeon broadens the liturgy, as it were, to include a new dimension of meaning suitable for the messianic child. Just as Mary’s experience of being mother to Jesus would “pierce her own soul,” so the ordinary liturgy of purification with two turtledoves would not be “big enough” to hold her significance. By injecting into the occasion his words to Mary, Simeon broadens her liturgy, as it were, to include a new dimension of meaning suitable for the mother of the Messiah. These extra-liturgical dimensions add to the meaning of the rites, increasing the aims offered by God through the liturgy and the satisfactions offered back to God by the liturgical participants. Mary and Joseph’s expectations that Mary would be purified and Jesus dedicated are fulfilled in the liturgies; but in the deeper experience of Simeon and Anna’s liturgical expansions, their expectations are fulfilled in unexpected ways.

And that is the implicit promise of the liturgy of the Feast of the Presentation for us as well. Whether it be in a candlelit procession; whether it be in blessings of candles for use in church and at home; whether it be in special attention to these themes in preaching for the day — God offers the worshiping community in this Feast aims of love and justice and peace, aims of light to enlighten all people and glory for those who turn to God, aims to experience unexpected depth and meaning and compassion and action in the midst of the ordinary expectations of life. To the extent that we are willing and able to receive these expanded liturgical aims, we also can embody God’s ideals and return to God the offering of our actions, our completed occasions, the fulfillments of justice and peace and love we are able to accomplish, so that God can take them up in the Adventure of the Universe as One, and bring from them new aims for right-relationships and well-being for all.

The Rev. Dr. Paul Nancarrow is an Episcopal priest retired from full-time parish ministry. His theological work has focused on process-relational interpretations of liturgy, and especially on the co-acting of divine action and human action in sacramental work and worship. He has taught Theology for deacons’ ordination training in Michigan, Minnesota, and Virginia. He can often be found contemplating the Adventure of the Universe as One from the saddle of his bicycle on back roads and rail-trails in the Upper Midwest.

3 Key Lessons from Jesus in the Temple

Jesus did more than just scare his mom and drive out cheapskates. He set the standard of having a burning faith in the Church. He set the example to fight for faith, injustice, and loving the lost. Here are three key lessons about faith from Jesus in the temple.

We have a saying around our house, “If mama ain’t happy, then nobody’s happy.” I often think of Jesus in the temple and think we need the same phrase, “ If Jesus ain’t happy…” Especially when Jesus walked the earth and cleansed the temple shortly before His death and resurrection.

Then there was the first time He challenged His parents and stayed behind in the city from His family who had left to travel home. Jesus was 12 and nowhere to be found in their caravan. He definitely gave His mother a heart attack, only to stun her when she found Him sitting among the elders as He simply stated, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”

In today’s world, we are divided between doctrines, masks, vaccines, personal views, how the Church should be run, and of course, political parties. Everywhere you turn, individuals have strong opinions about the Church, faith, deconstruction of faith, and so much more. The very fabric of our faith is being torn, frayed, and unraveled. But…once the feelings settle, our minds clear, and then we get quiet; we feel His presence as we pray for Jesus to come for His people and heal this broken world. We sit in the quiet and reflect on His life.

His example reveals He was more than a man and He went against the grain of society. But it’s more than that. He taught us what faith looks like in action with a heart for God, the Church, and mankind. Jesus did more than just scare his mom and drive out cheapskates. He set the standard of having a burning faith in the Church. He set the example to fight for faith, injustice and loving the lost. Here are three key lessons about faith from Jesus in the temple.

Jesus' Example of Faith

"For we walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7

Those words seem simple enough. But what does it mean? In today’s world where there is more division than ever, I am learning that fleshing out these words is more complex. Yet, at its core, it’s simple. Faith means having tremendous confidence in God. It means courage and strength. It means unending grace. It also means standing up for what is pure, true, and right. It means believing the Bible is the key to nourishing our souls and the Church is a place to shine our light—not just outside its four walls but also within. Faith means you’re willing to look like a fool, willing to be misunderstood, abandoned, and become an outcast. It also means giving up any semblance of control over your life because you know the Author of your story is still writing it, knowing He knows the outcome. Why? Because at its core, faith is believing that “we walk by faith and not by sight.”

Jesus in the Temple Bible Story

"So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing from the Word of God." Romans 10:17

Matthew 21:12-17 and John 2:13-22 tell the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple. The two passages may have been two different instances of Jesus cleansing the Temple, but they teach similar principles. Jesus had come to be the bridge between humanity and God. Jesus came because He knew we needed a savior. Yet, the Law was standing in the way. At the time, those who wanted to be righteous knew they needed to be pardoned for their sins. The Law required a sacrifice in the form of birds, lambs, cows, and oxen. Those who went to the temple to honor the Lord and seek His pardon knew they needed to bring a blood sacrifice. This blood sacrifice meant passing their sins onto the animal. Thus, commercialism and exhorting the pour began ( Exodus 30:11-16 ; Leviticus 14:22 ; Luke 2:24 ).

When Jesus entered the Temple , He assumed He would see people praying for needs, pardons, and finding the purest way to honor God. Instead, He saw a marketplace as a stumbling block and gate blocking humanity’s need from God. He saw corrupt, abusive, ungodly men as moneychangers, sellers of merchandise, and how others made God’s house of prayer into an abusive and lucrative place to extort those in need. At the time Jewish law was under the rule of Romans which meant “half a shekel” of Jewish coin needed to be changed into Roman coin ( Exodus 30:11-16 ). It became a matter of convivence to have a place where Roman coins could be exchanged for Jewish coins. The moneychangers provided this convenience but would demand a fee for the money exchange. Because thousands would travel from all over for Passover and feasts, money changing became a profitable business that became a gate, blocking the oppressed and poor via fraud and exhortation.

Jesus’ first cleansing of the temple is described in John 2:11-12 as having occurred just after Jesus’ first miracle, the turning of water into wine at the wedding in Cana. The second cleansing of the temple occurred just after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem the last week of His life. This second cleansing is recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke but not in John. John 2:14-15 notes, "In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple.

But here is the twist in the story, this wasn’t the only time Jesus was found in the temple. In Luke 2:41-52 , Jesus purposely stayed behind to be in His Father’s House. “Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old , they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed their days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.”

Key Lessons from Jesus in the Temple

What is it about this about finding Jesus in the temple which is of such significance? First, Jesus was already well aware of His identity and Mission. He was comfortable in His Father's House, the temple, and His teaching was already compelling. Even to the teachers in the temple at the mere age of twelve. Later, when he drove out the money changers, He was obliterating all obstacles to God. Here are the 3 lessons we can learn.

How Many Times Did Jesus Appear after His Resurrection?

1. Jesus Was Intent on Purifying the Church

Compared to the priests and Pharisees , Jesus was bent on purifying the church.

John 2:14-16 tells us,

"And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!""

Compared to today’s churches that are focused on growth and becoming mega-churches, Jesus cared more about why people were attending instead of how many people attended. He cared more about who was coming to the Temple instead of how many people were coming. Jesus said His house was to be a House of prayer. He wanted His people to come with the focus of connecting with God and praying to God.

2. Nothing Is More Important Than the Kingdom of God

What is the real Kingdom of God? We are. When Jesus took our place on the cross, He became the bridge between us and God’s Kingdom. God resides within each of our hearts and someday God’s kingdom will come after He transforms the world with a new heaven and a new earth. When religious leaders asked when God’s Kingdom would be established (thinking God would wipe out the Romans who were ruling over them at the time). In Luke 17:20-21 Jesus “answered them and said, ‘The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, “See here!” or “See there!” For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.’” Jesus declared in Matthew 6:33 , “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Instead of running after what we think we need or want, we should be pursuing God’s Kingdom, because God will take care of our wants and needs.

3. People Are More Valuable Than Money

Jesus demonstrated that people were more important and precious than profits. His righteous anger revealed His heart for His people. Jesus went on to tell the disciple the second greatest commandment as well: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” ( Matthew 22:39 ). The truth is we are lovers of ourselves when Jesus taught that we are to love our neighbors as much as ourselves. Jesus takes loving others even further in Luke 6:27 : “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” That’s right; according to the Son of God , we’re supposed to even love our enemies!

When we apply these lessons to our lives, we can further God’s Kingdom and extend His invitation to others. We can in turn be a living Temple that shines a light in this dark world. We have the opportunity to shine His light while there is still time. In turn, our lives will be filled with His abundance of joy.

Was Jesus Justified in Overturning the Tables?

What is godly anger.

“We all have things that irritate us, and we display our anger in different ways. Yet research has proven that it is not good to be angry. One study found that bad-tempered people are three times more likely to have heart attacks. And a 2006 Harvard study revealed that 10 million men in the U.S. are so angry, they are sick. In fact, their disease has a name: Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED). Having said all that, not all anger is bad. The Bible records a time when Jesus Christ , God incarnate, was angry. Very angry. After making His triumphal entry into Jerusalem with crowds cheering and palm branches waving, Jesus "went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, ‘It is written, "My house is a house of prayer," but you have made it a "den of thieves" ' " ( Luke 19:45-46 ). Was Jesus having a temper tantrum? Hardly. It was righteous indignation. He went into the temple. He took stock of the situation. And He overturned tables. Why such a display of anger? Because the people engaged in temple commerce were keeping others from God. They had a little racket going in which they found fault with the sacrificial animals the people brought in and then sold them an "approved" animal at an inflated price. And this made Jesus angry. God is angry when people stand in the way of sinners coming to know Him. God doesn't like it when we get in the way, and it happens all too often in the church. But the church is not supposed to be a museum for saints; it is supposed to be a hospital for sinners—a place for people to know God.”

- Taken from " When Jesus Got Angry " written by Greg Laurie, distributed by Harvest Ministries (used by permission).

Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/wynnter

Learn more about the meaning and significance behind the Easter holiday and Holy Week celebrations:

What is Lent? and When Does Lent Start? What is Ash Wednesday? and When is Ash Wednesday? What is Palm Sunday? What is Maundy Thursday? What is Good Friday? and When is Good Friday? What is Holy Saturday?

What is Easter? and When is Easter Sunday? Easter Bible Verses The Resurrection of Jesus Easter Prayers

Was Jesus Raised from the Dead?

3 Ways Good Friday Gives Us Hope

The Seven Last Words of Jesus from the Cross Explained

Holy Week Timeline (Passion Week): Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday

What Is Maundy Thursday?

Top 15 Easter Hymns and Worship Songs to Celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

What’s So Good about Good Friday?

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The Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple

The law of God, given by Moses to the Jews, to insinuate both to us and to them, that by the sin of Adam man is conceived and born in sin, and obnoxious to his wrath, 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 any thing consecrated to God. This term was of forty days upon the birth of a son, and the time was double for a daughter: on the expiration of which, the mother was to bring to the door of the tabernacle, or temple, a lamb of a year old. and a young pigeon or turtle-dove. The lamb was for a holocaust, or burnt-offering, in acknowledgment of the sovereignty of God, and in thanksgiving for her own happy delivery; the pigeon or turtle-dove was for a sin-offering. 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 whereas the charge of a lamb might be too burdensome on persons of narrow circumstances, in that case, nothing more was required, then two pigeons, or two turtle-doves, one for a burnt, the other for a sin-offering.

Our Saviour having been conceived by the Holy Ghost, and his blessed Mother remaining always a spotless virgin, it is most evident from the terms of the law, that she was, in reality, under no obligation to it, nor within the intent of it. She was, however, within the letter of the law, in the eye of the world, who were as yet strangers to her miraculous conception. And her humility making her perfectly resigned, and even desirous to conceal her privilege and dignity, she submitted with great punctuality and exactness to every humbling circumstance which the law required. Pride indeed proclaims its own advantages, and seeks honors not its due; but the humble find their delight in obscurity and abasement, they shun all distinction and esteem which they clearly see their own nothingness and baseness to be most unworthy of: they give all glory to God alone, to whom it is due. Devotion also and zeal 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: accordingly is this part of the law mentioned by St. Luke, as best agreeing with the meanness of her worldly condition. But her offering, however mean in itself, was made with a perfect heart, which is what God chiefly regards in all that is offered to him. The King of Glory would appear everywhere in the robes of poverty, to point out to us the advantages of a suffering and lowly state, and to repress our pride, by which, though really poor and mean in the eyes of God, we covet to appear rich, and, though sinners, would be deemed innocents and saints.

A second great mystery is honored this day, regarding more immediately the person of our Redeemer, viz. his presentation in the temple. 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 in these two laws were included several others, as, that the child, after its presentation, 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, as in presenting herself to be purified, and in her offering her first-born, 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, though the living temple of the God of Israel; 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 depositum in her special care, till the Father shall again demand him for the full accomplishment of man's redemption. It is clear that Christ was not comprehended in the law; "The king's son, to whom the inheritance of the crown belongs, is exempt from servitude:- much more Christ, who was the Redeemer both of our souls and bodies, was not subject to any law by which he was to be himself redeemed," as St. Hilary observes. But he would set an example of humility, obedience, and devotion: and would renew, in a solemn and public manner, and in the temple, the oblation of himself to his Father for the accomplishment of his will, and the redemption of man, which he had made privately in the first moment of his Incarnation. With what sentiments did the divine Infant offer himself to his Father at the same time! the greatest homage of his honour and glory the Father could receive, and a sacrifice of satisfaction adequate to the injuries done to the Godhead by our sins, and sufficient to ransom our souls from everlasting death! With what cheerfulness and charity did he offer himself to all his torments! to be whipped, crowned with thorns, and ignominiously put to death for us!

Let every Christian learn hence to offer himself to God with this divine victim, through which he may be accepted by the Father; let him devote himself with all his senses and faculties to his service. If sloth, or any other vice, has made us neglectful of this essential duty, we must bewail past omissions, and make a solemn and serious consecration of ourselves this day to the divine majesty with the greater fervor, crying out with St. Austin, in compunction of heart: "Too late have I known thee, too late have I begun to love thee, O beauty more ancient than the world!" But our sacrifice, if we desire it may be accepted, must not be lame and imperfect. It would be an insult to offer to God, in union with his Christ, a divided heart, or a heart infected with wilful sin. It must therefore first be cleansed by tears of sincere compunction: its affections must be crucified to the world by perfect mortification. Our offering must be sincere and fervent, without reserve, allowing no quarter to any of our vicious passions and inclinations, and no division in any of our affections. It must also be universal; to suffer and to do all for the divine honor. If we give our hearts to Christ in this manner, we shall receive him with his graces and benedictions. He would be presented in the temple by the hands of his mother: let us accordingly make the offering of our souls through Mary and beg his graces through the same channel.

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, from which this festival was anciently called by the Greeks Hypante, the meeting. Holy Simeon, on that occasion, received into his arms the object of all his desires and sighs, and praised God in raptures of devotion for being blessed with the happiness of beholding the so much longed-for Messias. He 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 world's Redeemer. Amidst the crowd of priests and people, the Saviour of the world is known only by Simeon and Anne. Even when he disputed with the doctors, and when he wrought the most stupendous miracles, the learned, the wise, and the princes did not know him. Yet here, while a weak, speechless child, carried in the arms of his poor mother, he is acknowledged and adored by Simeon and Anne. He could not hide himself from those who sought him with fervor, humility, and ardent love. Unless we seek him in these dispositions, he will not manifest himself, nor communicate his graces to us. Simeon, having beheld his Saviour in the flesh, desired no longer to see the light of this world, nor any creatures on earth If we truly love God, our distance from him must be a continual pain: and we must sigh after that desired moment which will free us from the danger of ever losing him by sin, and will put us in possession of Him who is the joy of the blessed, and the infinite treasure of heaven. Let us never cease to pray that he purify our hearts from all earthly dross, and draw them to himself: that he heal, satiate, and inflame our souls, as he only came upon earth to kindle in all hearts the fire of his love.

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Torn for You: A Good Friday Meditation

More By Samuel Emadi

The Gospels have famously been described as “Passion narratives with extended introductions.” The first half of each Gospel highlights select events and teachings in Jesus’s three-year ministry. But then comes Passion Week —and the evangelists show no interest in moving quickly. Here they linger, every word dripping with divine mercy, every detail unfolding new vistas of God’s unsearchable love for his people. The evangelists don’t simply recount what happens at Golgotha; they tell us the moment’s meaning.

One paragraph that takes us to the moment emphasizes four significant events: cosmic darkness, Jesus’s cry of dereliction, the temple curtain’s rending, and the centurion’s surprising confession (Mark 15:33–39).

This Good Friday, consider one detail: the curtain’s rending.

Ripped Apart

Have you ever considered what’s the first thing that happened after Jesus died? According to Mark, it was the tearing of the temple curtain: “Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom” (vv. 37–38).

Mark has anticipated this moment for some time, as Jesus’s sights have been set on the temple for five chapters. From ending his triumphal entry at the temple (chap. 11), to arguing with the temple authorities (chap. 12), to predicting its destruction (chap. 13), Jesus has repeatedly made it plain that the old order and old temple are passing away.

But this moment is far more than the vindication of Jesus’s final week of teaching. The torn veil resolves a problem as old as creation itself.

The torn veil resolves a problem as old as creation itself.

At the beginning of the Bible, Adam and Eve enjoyed unrestricted access to God. Eden wasn’t any ordinary garden. It was a garden-sanctuary, a temple : the place where God dwelled with man. But when Adam and Eve sinned, they were exiled from Eden and excluded from fellowship with their Creator. God placed angelic centurions with a flaming sword on the garden’s eastern edge. The point was clear: if anyone tried to reenter God’s presence, that flaming sword would come down on his or her head.

The penalty for sinners trying to access God’s presence was death. Yet in the Old Testament, God made a way to dwell with his people—at least in a limited sense. Both the tabernacle and the temple were made to look like miniature Edens. The furniture, the implements, and the embroidered curtains all mimicked a lush garden. But this new Eden had restrictions. Temple worshipers could enter the outer court. The priests could minister in the holy place. But the innermost room, the Holy of Holies, was utterly inaccessible except to the high priest once a year. That’s where God himself dwelled.

The curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple wasn’t flimsy and thin like the one in my dining room. This curtain was a wall. Some scholars estimate it may have been a foot thick. Embroidered into it were cherubim (Ex. 26:31–35). Just like Eden, they barred access to God’s presence. And just like Eden, the access point to his presence faced the east—accessible only from the land of Adam’s exile (vv. 18–22).

At the death of Christ, that curtain separating man from God was torn in two—ripped by God himself. The angelic centurions were called off duty. The flaming sword was sheathed in Christ’s heart. The threat of judgment hanging over those who dare enter God’s presence fell on his head. In their place, condemned he stood.

Access to God

The torn curtain symbolizes that the barriers separating us and God have now been completely removed. We’re no longer under the threat of his just condemnation. By Christ’s blood and righteousness, we’ve been made holy and acceptable to God. No barriers keep us from going to God, and nothing keeps him from dispensing his mercy or exercising his love.

When we’re in conflict with someone, we often use the phrase “There’s something between us.” The torn veil teaches us that Christians must never use that phrase about their objective relationship with God. There’s nothing, legally speaking, between you and God. There’s no distance between his mercy and those who have trusted in Christ’s work. There’s no barrier separating his grace from those who hunger for it.

Fellowship with the Trinity

But the image of the torn curtain runs deeper still. The open doorway into the Holy of Holies means we who are in Christ now dwell with God and he with us. The Spirit who once resided in the Holy of Holies has been poured out on his people. As Paul declares, “Through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father” (Eph. 2:18).

This is staggering. Those who come to Christ enjoy, by the Spirit, the fellowship with the Father that the Son himself enjoys . His death accomplishes more than the removal of God’s wrath—though that alone would be more than we deserve! He also ushers us into the gloriously happy fellowship and infinite love that has forever existed between Father, Son, and Spirit.

At the death of Christ, that curtain separating man from God was torn in two—ripped by God himself.

As Bobby Jamieson put it , “The Father sent his Son to redeem us, and his Spirit to indwell us, in order that we would share in the Son’s own relation to the Father. The Christian life is not merely (and not ultimately!) about forgiveness and freedom from condemnation; it’s about being permanently inserted into the love and glory that the Father has eternally shared with the Son.” Or as Jesus prayed, “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26).

Christian, the torn veil is an invitation—an open door to the Trinity’s infinite love. Our destiny isn’t simply eternal gratitude that we’re not in hell. For all eternity, we’ll grow increasingly happy as we’re brought further up and further in to the infinitely sweet triune fellowship. Both now and forever, God will love us no less than he loves his own Son. Both now and forever, he’ll love us with the same degree of intensity with which he has eternally loved Jesus Christ.

Those who’ve internalized the torn curtain’s message can be in no doubt that God loves them.

Is there enough evidence for us to believe the Gospels?

Samuel Emadi (PhD, Southern Seminary) is senior pastor of Hunsinger Lane Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky; editor for 9Marks ; cohost of the podcast Bible Talk ; and author of What Should I Do Now That I’m a Christian? , Who’s in Charge of the Church? , and From Prisoner to Prince: The Joseph Story in Biblical Theology .

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Echo 28: Palm Sunday to Easter Knowing God With Heart and Mind

Christianity

In this profound episode, we guide listeners through the climactic events taking place around Jesus' journey from the Mount of Olives to the temple, painting a vivid picture of the paradoxical nature of Palm Sunday. The excitement of the awaiting crowd, their subsequent disappointment, and their inability to envision exactly how the prophecied Messiah would deliver their salvation, all signal missed understanding and anticipate the coming somber events. This exploration invokes a call for churchgoers to appreciate and understand these interconnected events - Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter - as a continuous, impactful narrative.Peter's Journey: Denial, Resurrection, TransformationDive into a captivating exploration of Peter the Apostle's faith journey in this episode. By meticulously examining passages from the Gospels, we unravel Peter's struggles and misconceptions about God's redemptive plan, culminating in his infamous denial of Jesus. The subsequent shock of the resurrected Christ presentation serves as a transformative moment in Peter's life. We suggest that faith, despite uncertainties and sporadic disobedience, remains an enduring venture towards learning, growth, and unwavering allegiance to Christ's divine plan. Join us as we deconstruct Peter's journey and draw parallel to our spiritual growth.Revelatory Encounter: A Resurrected Christ and a Transformed PeterIn this enlightening episode, we delve into the impactful moment when Peter, one of Jesus' closest disciples, experiences the shocking revelation of seeing his resurrected Lord. This disbelief-shattering encounter, coupled with Peter's ultimate realization of his misplaced brashness, underscores the transformative power of such profound experiences. We scrutinize the pivotal scene of Peter professing his love to Jesus, shifting our focus to Jesus's redeeming responses rather than Peter's assertions. This examination concludes with a reflection on our spiritual path, emphasizing the importance of humility and daily connection with the divine.

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Luke 2:22-38 New American Bible (Revised Edition)

The Presentation in the Temple. 22 [ a ] When the days were completed for their purification [ b ] according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, ( A ) 23 just as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,” ( B ) 24 and to offer the sacrifice of “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,” in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.

25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, [ c ] and the holy Spirit was upon him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord. 27 He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, 28 he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:

29 “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation, ( C ) 31 which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” ( D )

33 The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; 34 and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted ( E ) 35 (and you yourself a sword will pierce) [ d ] so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” 36 There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. 38 And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. ( F )

2:22–40 The presentation of Jesus in the temple depicts the parents of Jesus as devout Jews, faithful observers of the law of the Lord ( Lk 2:23–24 , 39 ), i.e., the law of Moses. In this respect, they are described in a fashion similar to the parents of John ( Lk 1:6 ) and Simeon ( Lk 2:25 ) and Anna ( Lk 2:36–37 ).
2:22 Their purification : syntactically, their must refer to Mary and Joseph, even though the Mosaic law never mentions the purification of the husband. Recognizing the problem, some Western scribes have altered the text to read “his purification,” understanding the presentation of Jesus in the temple as a form of purification; the Vulgate version has a Latin form that could be either “his” or “her.” According to the Mosaic law ( Lv 12:2–8 ), the woman who gives birth to a boy is unable for forty days to touch anything sacred or to enter the temple area by reason of her legal impurity. At the end of this period she is required to offer a year-old lamb as a burnt offering and a turtledove or young pigeon as an expiation of sin. The woman who could not afford a lamb offered instead two turtledoves or two young pigeons, as Mary does here. They took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord : as the firstborn son ( Lk 2:7 ) Jesus was consecrated to the Lord as the law required ( Ex 13:2 , 12 ), but there was no requirement that this be done at the temple. The concept of a presentation at the temple is probably derived from 1 Sm 1:24–28 , where Hannah offers the child Samuel for sanctuary services. The law further stipulated ( Nm 3:47–48 ) that the firstborn son should be redeemed by the parents through their payment of five shekels to a member of a priestly family. About this legal requirement Luke is silent.
2:25 Awaiting the consolation of Israel : Simeon here and later Anna who speak about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem represent the hopes and expectations of faithful and devout Jews who at this time were looking forward to the restoration of God’s rule in Israel. The birth of Jesus brings these hopes to fulfillment.
2:35 (And you yourself a sword will pierce) : Mary herself will not be untouched by the various reactions to the role of Jesus ( Lk 2:34 ). Her blessedness as mother of the Lord will be challenged by her son who describes true blessedness as “hearing the word of God and observing it” ( Lk 11:27–28 and Lk 8:20–21 ).

Cross references

2:22–24 : Lv 12:2–8.
2:23 : Ex 13:2, 12.
2:30–31 : 3:6; Is 40:5 LXX; 52:10.
2:32 : Is 42:6; 46:13; 49:6; Acts 13:47; 26:23.
2:34 : 12:51; Is 8:14; Jn 9:39; Rom 9:33; 1 Cor 1:23; 1 Pt 2:7–8.
2:38 : Is 52:9.

Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Neighbors oppose Lone Mountain Temple proposal; church leader says they will address concerns

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Neighbors around Lone Mountain launched a fierce opposition to forthcoming plans for a new temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as a church leader promises to address some concerns.

Neighbors created a petition with more than 700 signatures and a Preserve Rural Las V egas website. Various neighbors have expressed concerns over traffic and the massive footprint, but many take issue with the height and lighting proposals in a rural area.

Attorneys for the project held a neighborhood public meeting and disclosed in renderings that the height of the steeple would be 216 feet.

Long-time rural zoning restrictions for the Lone Mountain area limit projects with massive footprints and height and lighting restrictions.

In late 2022, church leaders announced plans for a second temple at the 20-acre site off North Grand Canyon Road.

Last week, the City Council of Las Vegas voted to amend longstanding code in the district, paving the way for houses of worship to apply for a Special Use Permit to build in the area.

“Our homes are limited at 35 [feet]. This is nearly 200 feet taller than any of our homes,” said concerned neighbor Matt Hackley.

“They’re going to have the church lit from dusk to dawn. The view, the darkness, and the vision of the mountains—that’s going to be gone. It won’t be rural,” said concerned resident Renee Newman.

Numerous residents own and ride horses, and voiced concerns about the safety to continue to do so.

“We ride our horses in the area. There’s going to be too much traffic. It’s just not safe anymore, and that’s not why built out here in 2007,” said concerned resident Kara Walker. “I would like the church and the city and us local residents to be able to sit down and consider other optimal sites,” Walker said.

Community members also are lobbying Clark County leaders as the project progresses through city and county commissions.

Leaders for the church recently released renderings for the proposal.

“Temples are so special, they are so significant. We build them, and then we dedicate them to God, they are literally a house of the Lord. Things like the size and the height of the building are part of the deep religious meaning and symbolism of the building itself,” said Bud Stoddard, stake president of the Lone Mountain Stake.

“We will be evaluating ways that we can address some of the concerns that have been raised by the neighbors,” Stoddard said.

For decades, the community has had one Temple at the base of Sunrise Mountain. Stoddard said there has been a long-time need for a West Valley location as the region keeps growing and traffic increases.

“Since 1989, all of the members of the Church throughout the entire Las Vegas Valley have used one Temple located at the base of Sunrise Mountain. So as you can imagine, as the Valley has grown over the last three and a half decades, it’s become much more difficult for members, such as myself, and members of my stake who live on the west side of town, to travel all the way across town to be able to regularly attend the Temple on the east side,” Stoddard said.

The City of Las Vegas released the following statement on the next steps:

On Tuesday, April 9, 2024, the Planning Commission will hear the presentation of the proposed LDS temple, inside City Hall at 6 pm where the general plan amendment and zone changes will be presented to the Planning Commission.

During this time, the Planning Commissioners will learn the details of the proposed LDS temple and will conclude with a recommendation that will be sent to City Council.

On May 14, 2024 the proposed LDS temple will present their Site Development Review to the Planning Commission where discussion about the size, height, parking and aesthetics of the proposed LDS temple will take place.

Following the Planning Commission meeting the proposed LDS temple will come to City Council for another full presentation. The City Council would then vote on the project.

Councilwoman Francis Allen-Palenske of Ward 4 also released the following statement:

“While many people are eager to hear my opinion on the proposed temple, it’s customary to allow the Planning Commissioners independence to perform their duty without the influence of the councilperson. Until then, I am seeing the outreach from both supporters and those in opposition and reading all of the comments. As our community begins to debate the details of the proposed project, please remember to be kind and neighborly, even when we disagree.”

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IMAGES

Holy Mass images...: Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
Holy Mass images...: Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
File:Presentation of Jesus at the Temple by Fra Angelico (San Marco
Presentation of Christ in the Temple Painting by Fra Bartolomeo
Sunday in the South: Luke 2:21-40
Pin on Te Deum Laudamus

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COMMENTS

Presentation of Jesus
The Presentation of Jesus is an early episode in the life of Jesus Christ, describing his presentation at the Temple in Jerusalem.It is celebrated by many churches 40 days after Christmas on Candlemas, or the "Feast of the Presentation of Jesus".The episode is described in chapter 2 of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament. Within the account, "Luke's narration of the Presentation in the ...
Luke 2:22-40 NIV
Jesus Presented in the Temple. 22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord"[ a]), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in ...
Reflections for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
Introduction: This feast commemorates how Jesus, as a baby, was presented to God in the Temple in Jerusalem.This presentation finds its complete and perfect fulfillment in the mystery of the passion, death and Resurrection of the Lord. The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is a combined feast, commemorating the Jewish practice of the purification of the mother after childbirth and the ...
The Deeper Meaning of the Presentation in the Temple
All of this helps us to see that the Presentation in the Temple was about two important things: (1) the purification of Mary and (2) the redemption of baby Jesus. So far so good. But there are two other elements here which are worth paying attention to. For one thing, the Mosaic Law nowhere demanded that the purification or the redemption take ...
Luke 2:22-35 NET
Luke 2:22-35. New English Translation. Jesus' Presentation at the Temple. 22 Now[ a] when the time came for their[ b] purification according to the law of Moses, Joseph and Mary[ c] brought Jesus[ d] up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (just as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male[ e] will be set apart to ...
Luke 2:22-38 ESV
Jesus Presented at the Temple. 22 And () 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 male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord") 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in () the Law of the Lord, () "a ...
A meditative guide to the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
Here is a meditative guide to the event of Jesus' presentation in the Temple, as laid out in The little book of the most holy child Jesus. It presents a beautiful meditation, allowing us time to ...
The Presentation in the Temple: 4th Joyful Mystery
THE MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY. Fourth Joyful Mystery: The Presentation in the Temple. "And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present ...
2 February 2011, Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple is an eloquent image of the total gift of one's life for all those, men and women, who are called to represent "the characteristic features of Jesus — the chaste, poor and obedient one" (Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Vita Consecrata, n. 1) in the Church and in the world, through the ...
Presentation of the Lord
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraph 529) teaches, The presentation of Jesus in the temple shows him to be the firstborn Son who belongs to the Lord. With Simeon and Anna, all Israel awaits its encounter with the Savior-the name given to this event in the Byzantine tradition. Jesus is recognized as the long-expected Messiah, the ...
Life of Mary (VIII): Jesus' Presentation in the Temple
The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple can be linked with the Offering of the Sacrifice of Calvary that the Mass makes present in all times and places. This sharing in the mystery of the Redemption was revealed little by little to the Virgin Mary. At the Annunciation the archangel had said nothing about this.
Mary, Simeon or Anna: Who First Recognized Jesus as Messiah?
THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE. When Joseph (far left) and Mary (left of center) bring baby Jesus to the Jerusalem Temple, they are greeted by Simeon, who embraces the baby, and Anna, the New Testament's only prophetess, shown at right with a scroll, in this 1342 tempera painting by Ambrogio Lorenzetti. Simeon instantly and independently ...
Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple celebrates an early episode in the life of Jesus. It falls between the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul on January 25 th, and the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter on February 22 nd . In the Roman Catholic Church, the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple is the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary.
Pope Benedict Xvi: Homily on The Presentation of Jesus in The Temple
HOMILY 2 February 2006. Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today's F east of Jesus' Presentation at the temple 40 days after his birth places before our eyes a special moment in the life of the Holy Family: Mary and Joseph, in accordance with Mosaic law, took the tiny Jesus to the temple of Jerusalem to offer him to the Lord (cf. Lk 2: 22). Simeon and Anna, inspired by God, recognized that Child ...
Luke 2:21-40 NLT
Your Content. Luke 2:21-40. New Living Translation. Jesus Is Presented in the Temple. 21 Eight days later, when the baby was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel even before he was conceived. 22 Then it was time for their purification offering, as required by the law of Moses after the birth of a child; so his ...
The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple.Check out this video with Dr. Brant Pitre and learn more.To learn more about this video series, The Mass Readings Exp...
Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple
Prayer. Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory! We love and adore You and give you all thanks for Your mercy, kindness and love. Help us dear Lord, to remember Your commandment, "Love one another as I have loved you.". Give us the grace to fulfill Your words, Lord. In Your holy name we pray. Amen.
The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, 2 February 2020
The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (Year A), 9 February 2020 →. The Feast of the Presentation is the final installment in the cycle of liturgies for Christmas. It may seem a little strange to be thinking about Christmas here in February; after all, in the timetables of secular culture and marketing, Christmas is long over, we've blown past ...
3 Key Lessons from Jesus in the Temple
Jesus in the Temple Bible Story "So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing from the Word of God." Romans 10:17. Matthew 21:12-17 and John 2:13-22 tell the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple. The two passages may have been two different instances of Jesus cleansing the Temple, but they teach similar principles.
Lorenzetti, Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, 1342, tempera on panel, 257 x 168 cm (Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence). Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker. ... This is a common confusion but the Circumcision and the Presentation in the Temple are two DIFFERENT events. The circumcision occurred when Christ was eight days old. The ...
The Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple
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, from which this festival was anciently called by the Greeks Hypante, the meeting. Holy Simeon, on that occasion, received into his arms the object of all his desires and sighs, and praised God in ...
Torn for You: A Good Friday Meditation
According to Mark, it was the tearing of the temple curtain: "Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom" (vv. 37-38). Mark has anticipated this moment for some time, as Jesus's sights have been set on the temple for five chapters. From ending his triumphal entry at ...
Echo 28: Palm Sunday to Easter Knowing God With Heart and Mind
By meticulously examining passages from the Gospels, we unravel Peter's struggles and misconceptions about God's redemptive plan, culminating in his infamous denial of Jesus. The subsequent shock of the resurrected Christ presentation serves as a transformative moment in Peter's life.
Luke 2:22-38 NABRE
Footnotes. 2:22-40 The presentation of Jesus in the temple depicts the parents of Jesus as devout Jews, faithful observers of the law of the Lord (Lk 2:23-24, 39), i.e., the law of Moses.In this respect, they are described in a fashion similar to the parents of John and Simeon and Anna (Lk 2:36-37).2:22 Their purification: syntactically, their must refer to Mary and Joseph, even though ...
Neighbors oppose Lone Mountain Temple proposal; church leader says they
On Tuesday, April 9, 2024, the Planning Commission will hear the presentation of the proposed LDS temple, inside City Hall at 6 pm where the general plan amendment and zone changes will be ...