Year C
Discover the deeper meaning and connections found in this week's readings, through these great commentaries written by our priests.
Explore this week's readings and hear what God is saying to us through His Word.
Find out more about how we can mark this special day in our liturgy.
See our music recommendations for the liturgy.
Imagine the exquisite care with which the new mother, Mary, entrusted her baby, just days old, into the arms of Simeon. This devout man took him into his arms and blessed God. The upright sage, who had been looking forward for so long to Israel’s comforting, cradles his Messiah. Luke’s gospel says about this moment: It had been revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord.
Picture the scene in your mind’s eye; many artists have done that and then depicted it. See the tenderness of the gaze of everyone gathered. Note the delicacy and the care of their touch.
Hear the scene, as well, in the ear of your heart: the quotidian bustle and busy-ness of the Temple heard within the constant murmuring and chanting of Psalms and prayer. Listen most of all to Anna, the prophetess: She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.
We are seeing and hearing the old order giving way to the new. Two revered old people recognise their long-awaited Saviour. The baby is too new, too fresh from Heaven, to utter a word. The Word, for all that he may have giggled or gurgled, is as yet wordless. So, consider the words he draws forth from others. All of us would coo over any new baby. Simeon, embracing his Lord, sings a song of relief and joy which is prayed by millions of the faithful at Night Prayer two thousand years on. His utterance is unique.
The Presentation of the Lord captures a family milestone in the life of Jesus. And, infinitely greater, it interrupts the life of all humanity, giving grace to those who have faithfully observed all that was in the Law of the Lord, and who have done all that the Law required. Simeon shows us that we can embrace the fulfilment of the Law.
In this single moment that we have our lives are spent surveying the here and now. But they can also be spent looking forward to all that will be. We prepare to be enlightened by the fullness of Christ's glory.
Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace,
just as you promised;
because 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.
Simeon and Anna reflect how we wait on the Lord, looking forward in hope to clasping Jesus in our own arms.
This feast has become very neglected over the years but it marks the end of the Christmas Season and as such is worthy of something special when it occurs on a Sunday.
Make a big thing out of the procession and start outside the church if it is possible making sure that everyone has their candle lit before the service begins.
After the greeting and blessing of the candles make sure that what is sung is able to be sung by everyone so that a refrain is probably best. Perhaps ‘the Light of Christ has come into the world’ repeated without the verses or something similar.
One way of making the procession special is to have the procession go right up to the Sanctuary and to have dishes of sand around the Lord’s Table into which the people can plant their candles assisted by the servers after which they return to their seats. This makes a blaze of light which is a reminder that the people are themselves meant to show ‘the glory of the Lord’ to the world around them by their love.
If there is more than one Mass on the Sunday try to have the procession at each Mass since the so-called ‘solemn entry’ puts all the emphasis on the priest and servers and ‘a representative group of the faithful’ and seems more like a performance for the others to watch than something in which the whole community shares.
Otherwise, the Gospel for year ‘C’ – The Two Sons – suggests that one of the Eucharistic Prayers for Masses of Reconciliation (created for the Holy Year of 1975) might appropriately be used today. Number One would be a good choice. If one of the other Eucharistic Prayers is used, Lenten Prefaces 1 and 2 are appropriate for Sunday use.
Intercessions for the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple or Candlemas Day.
Pr. On this day when we celebrate the coming of light of Christ
we pray for the world
and for the Christina people everywhere.
R. At his presentation in the Temple
the old man Simeon recognised in the little child
the One who would be a light for all the nations.
We are his body in the world today
and we pray that we may be a shining light for all to see
lighting up the lives of others
by the love that they see in us and in our community.
(Pause for silent prayer)
God of light and love.
P. Hear our prayer.
R. Our world is going through dark times
we pray that the hearts and minds
of the world’s leaders and peoples
may be open to the light of God’s Spirit at work in them
so that they may turn aside from warfare and violence
and work for justice and peace
for all humankind.
(Pause etc.)
R. The sword of suffering would pierce Mary’s heart
as she saw the sufferings of her beloved child.
We pray for all those who suffer in our world today
and for all those who seek to alleviate their sufferings
and who shed the light of love upon them.
(Pause etc.)
R. In our community here
we pray that like Joseph and Mary
who brought their child to be offered toGod
our lives may be offered
with him here at this Eucharist
that like the elderly Anna we may be faithful in prayer
and like Simeon
we may be always filled with gratitude
for all God’s blessings.
(Pause etc.)
R. It was Mary who with Joseph brought the child Jesus to the Temple
we pray that her life and her example
may bring us ever closer to her Son as we pray:
Hail Mary ….. the hour of our death.
R. In these moments of silence
we can remember those things
for which we want to pray today.
(Pause for silence)
Pr. God of all the peoples
may the light of your love be poured out
upon all those for whom we have prayed.
We ask this in Jesus’ name
for he lives for ever and ever.
P. Amen.
Note: These hymns have been chosen from different sources.
Lift up ye heads, ye mighty gates (CFE364, L105)
Blest are the pure in heart (CFE88, L908, LHON174, TCH208)
Christ be our Light (L883)
Now let your servant go in peace (CFES897, L177)
Key
CFE - Celebration Hymnal for Everyone
L – Laudate
LHON – Liturgical Hymns Old and New (Mayhew, 1999)
TCH – The Catholic Hymnbook (Gracewing)
Do you have questions about the liturgy and how we are called to participate in it? Explore how the Church councils, saints, and popes have answered this key question and many more.
Every movement of the Mass is rich in meaning but we can become over-familiar with it. Rediscover the Mass and explore how it relates to the Exodus story, where many of its rituals come from, and how it makes Jesus present to us today.
