THE APPEARANCE OF THE LORD IN HIS TEMPLE
FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD Mal 3:1-4 or Heb 2:14-18; Ps 24:7-10; Lk 2:22-40 The Lord Enters His Holy Temple The celebration of the feast of our Lord’s Presentation has a twofold meaning for us. The first meaning, which is obvious, is the fact that the baby Jesus Christ was presented in the Temple of Jerusalem. The presentation is in accordance with the stipulations of the Law of Moses, as we read in the Gospel. “When the day came for them to be purified as laid down by the Law of Moses, the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, -observing what stands written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord—and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledove or two young pigeons.” The Law stipulated the presentation in remembrance of the deliverance the Lord wrought for the people of Israel in the land of Egypt, by which they were delivered fr...