PRESENTATION OF THE LORD
Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which occurs forty days
after our celebration of the birth of Jesus at Christmas. The feast is
also known as Candlemas Day because the blessing and procession of candles is included in the Mass. Jesus Christ is the light of the nations, ‘the light to enlighten the pagans’ (Lk 2:32). That is why we have the blessing and procession of candles on this day.
It is relatively easy to spend time in God’s presence — simply because God is
always with us. We are not required to be in the Temple or in a church or in
another designated sacred space. We can be in God’s presence wherever and
whenever we choose and, enlivened and encouraged by God’s presence, we can
be witnesses to Jesus Christ who is the light of the world.
The tradition of lighting candles in our homes as a sign that Christ is the light of
the world is one practical custom that we could easily initiate to focus our
attention on him being at the centre of this wonderful feast and at the centre of
our lives.