The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is ancient.

Egeria, for instance, the ancient pilgrim to Jerusalem, mentions it in her diary in the fourth century. Gathering in the Church of the Resurrection, it was a feast celebrated by “much preaching.” From Jerusalem the feast spread north and west. It was called the Feast of the Purification before 1970. It’s also known as “Candlemas,” from the custom arising in Germany of blessing candles on this day.

The more ancient name for this feast is Hypapante, which simply means “Meeting.” It’s a name which hints at what this feast teaches. The Feast of the Presentation says a lot about the mystery of Christian life, but foremost that all of it is born of some sort of meeting, some encounter.

Mary and Joseph and Simeon and Anna all meet in the Temple, but the cause of the meeting is Christ. Each plays a role in offering Christ in the Temple. A young couple and an old man and an old woman each share in the one revelation of Christ. The Temple is a symbol of Israel; it’s a place of sacrifice. Jesus, in being presented as the firstborn son, is obedient to the Law, fulfilling it. But, as Simeon and Anna suggest, Jesus is a light to the nations and a deliverer. Just how he is both light and deliverer, we see in the rest of the Gospel as Jesus shows himself to be the perfect sacrifice and the new Temple—the body of Christ in which we live, which we eat too.

The Presentation shows us a deep mystery, a beautiful mystery. But it also shows us what can happen when we gather in this place, when we come to a meeting in the temple of our parish. Each of us together, young and old, offer and reveal Christ. For us too, the cause of our being in the Church is Christ. And likewise, our task is to share in the sacrifice, in our Eucharist and by our lives; and to be light, Christ’s light shining in us.

And so, go, meet others and Christ in your parish church. Because it’s the place of sacrifice, deliverance, and light, and it’s where redemption begins. Which includes you.