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Feast of the Presentation of the Lord – Malachi 3:1-4; Ps 23:7-10; Luke 2:22-40

Few were destined to survive the day of His coming, just as few were aware of His birth. He is likened to the refiner’s fire and the fullers’ alkali, yet here He is, a fragile child cradled in the arms of Simeon. One truth unites all – He will purify the sons of Levi and present an offering pleasing to the Lord. What, then, is this offering? A pair of doves or two pigeons. He comes to enrich us through His own poverty: the poverty of birth, the poverty of sacrifice, the poverty woven into the fabric of daily life, even the poverty of death.

We often yearn for a powerful Messiah, one who would stretch out His arm and bring us to our knees in awe. Yet He calls us to extend our own arms, to embrace Him as Simeon did, and echo the words of the old man: “My eyes have seen Your salvation.” In this embrace, we are wholly immersed – not in grandeur or spectacle, but in the profound humility of God’s poverty. Together, we become a pleasing sacrifice, with Him, in Him, and through Him.

Thank You, God, for granting me the grace to share in the inheritance of the saints in light, for lifting me from the shadows of darkness.