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February 2, 2024Today we celebrate the feast of the presentation of the Lord in the temple. Forty days have passed since Christmas. Today, in a certain sense, the time dedicated to meditating on the incarnation of the Lord ends. For this reason, the nativity scene in churches and in our homes is often maintained to this day.
It is a very precious celebration that reminds us of the moment in which Mary and Joseph performed a very important rite, they presented the baby Jesus at the temple, consecrating him to the Lord as their firstborn and bringing the offering foreseen by the law of Moses, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
This offering was typical of poor people. In fact, Jesus was born into a poor family and lived in poverty to share our human condition and to bring the good news of the Gospel to the poor and instill in hearts the richness of God's love.
This festival is also called the celebration of the meeting because it celebrates the meeting between God and humanity. God in Jesus comes to meet the world wounded by evil and closed in the darkness of sin. People who wish to be freed from the chains of evil come to meet the Lord to welcome in him the light of the world and salvation.
The temple is the place of encounter between God and us. The temple which the Gospel speaks is a figure of the Church. The Church is the place where we go to meet Jesus and to welcome his mercy and be saved. Every time we come to Church, we meet the Lord.
However, we must not think of the Church only as a physical place but also as the people of God: Jesus makes himself present in his people. He himself said, where two or three are gathered in my name I will be among them.
Today we are called to be like the elderly Simeon who goes to the temple and meets Jesus, he welcomes him and praises God.
Simeon's words reveal to us who Jesus is: my eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared for all the nations to see, a light to enlighten the pagans and the glory of your people Israel.
With these expressions Simeon recognizes in Jesus the salvation not only for one people but for all peoples. No one is excluded from God's Salvation. And before God we are all equal.
Dear people, let us bring the light of Jesus to everyone. Jesus was consecrated to God in the temple is the salvation of the whole world. On this day the Church also celebrates the XXVIII World Day of Consecrated Life. We remember all the people who have left everything to follow Christ and make themselves completely available to the kingdom of God.
What does the word consecration mean? It means being totally taken by God, anointed by the Holy Spirit, belonging to Christ and being totally at the service of the kingdom of God. In this sense Jesus is the consecrated of the Father, because he is the son of God and he offered his whole life to realize God's plan for the salvation of the world. We are all consecrated in baptism, we belong to Christ and form one body with him. In a certain sense, spouses are consecrated in love. Priests are consecrated for ministry.
But in the Church, we call consecrated people those who leave everyone to follow Christ by imitating his way of living, chaste, poor and obedient. The history of the Church is full of these people who followed Christ in a radical way and became saints: think of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint John Bosco. Let's think of Saint Teresa of infant Jesus or Mother Teresa of Calcutta and many others.
Looking at these saints allows us to rediscover our baptismal vocation and awakens in us the desire to renew our decision to be Christians and to follow Jesus to the end. On the World Day for Consecrated Life, let us therefore pray for all of us, so that we may know how to live our baptismal vocation, the vocation to be children of God, with joy and enthusiasm.
Let us also pray for all the vocations in the Church: to marriage and to the priesthood and to consecrated life. Let us pray that the Lord inspires in young people the desire to leave everything to follow Christ and make themselves completely available to the kingdom of God.
There is nothing more beautiful than meeting Jesus, making him known to everyone and bringing his friendship and his love.
