This Sunday we are celebrating the Feast of The Presentation of the Lord. Mary and Joseph brought Jesus up to Jerusalem to him to dedicate him to the Lord. The passage from Luke 2 that describes this moment and describes how Simeon, a good man, who was waiting for the Lord to act for his people, is inspired by God to come to the Temple at just that moment. Simeon has the sensitivity to discover God’s presence in Jesus, and describes him as a ‘Light of revelation’. He experiences how in the midst of everything they are living, being in a country occupied by the Romans, lacking freedom, the presence of the baby Jesus in carried by Mary and Joseph brought Light to his life, Light in the darkness of what they were living. Jesus’ life was a sign that God had kept his promises and so gave him hope, peace, a new horizon. He believed that Jesus’ life was a Light for all people

Reflecting on this, perhaps at some point of our life there has been a moment when we were like Simeon, experiencing darkness, waiting for light and then someone brought light, hope to us: perhaps there was a time when I was feeling lonely, or was living a difficult situation and someone helped me by reaching out to help me, or visited me when I was ill, or comforted me, etc.… Perhaps without realizing it, they were bringing you light, bringing you Jesus. Today on this feast day, I invite you to think of that person or those people who have brought light into your life, and during this week to give thanks for all of them.

And at the same time think of those that you have been bringing the light of Jesus into their lives, like Mary and Joseph bring the light to Simeon. Often, we might not be aware of this, you might say, I don’t think I’ve been bringing light to anyone, but often we do not value how much difference our own life can make for others.

Many of you are a light for me, showing a dedication to your faith in your life, trying to bring up your children in the Christian faith, volunteering in so many different ways, participating in the parish groups. We are nourished by each other’s faith, and it helps us to persevere, our faith journey is a light for many and I thank you for all that light given.

In the world right now, there is a lot of darkness, We can feel but the beautiful thing about today’s Feast, is how Simeon was able to notice God working even in the presence of a little baby, so even if our gestures of faith and love seem small, there are people who are “Simeons” waiting to receive light and hope from us, and they are capable of noticing that light even in ways that we often do not value.

Have a good week, Anabel Gonzalez, FMVD