Today’s liturgy of February 2nd brings together the Feast of the Presentation, the feast of Our Lady of the Blessed Candle (Matka Boska Gromniczna) and the World Day for Consecrated Life.
The first reading from the Book of the Prophet Malachi advises us that the Lord will suddenly come to His temple. The church is God’s house, it belongs to God, it is a building that is separated, set apart and consecrated for worship. In church, we act in accordance with the dignity that God’s house requires, and, for example, we keep our conversations to a minimum. We should not be too surprised to hear that the Lord will one day come suddenly to His temple, His house. It is, after all, His dwelling place. Today, at the beginning of Mass, we heard the words “let us also, gathered together by the Holy Spirit, proceed to the house of God to encounter Christ”. The theme of encounter reappears, and here is a little story to better illustrate the theme of encounter with God in church.
Br. Grzegorz was telling me how some time ago, he was cleaning in the church to which he had been assigned before arriving in Barry’s Bay. The church building was closed. Br. Grzegorz heard someone shaking all the doors, someone trying to get into the church. He opened a door, and saw a man who was standing there, dressed like a construction worker. The man said, “can I come in to pray?” Br. Grzegorz had a decision to make, because in the past, workers were used to coming into the church, not to pray, but to use the washrooms, sometimes leaving them dirty. In the end, Br. Grzegorz let the man in. He then observed how the man very piously prayed in front of the statue of Mary, and then in front of the altar. At the end, the man said to Br. Grzegorz: “Thank you for letting me into the church today. I’m a long-distance truck driver from Alberta, I and deliver materials to one of the construction sites in the neighbourhood. I pass this church regularly. Today is my daughter’s birthday, and as I was driving here, I was praying, ‘Lord, let this church be open, so that I can pray for my daughter on her birthday. And you let me in’”. People expect and hope for the opportunity to encounter God in church.
The second reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews, gives us words that should give us hope and consolation: “Jesus did not come to help Angels, but the descendants of Abraham” (Hebrews 2:16). God did in fact send His only Son to give us, frail people of the earth, mercy, comfort and assistance. This is especially true in the time of testing, in the hour of trial.
The Gospel of Luke describes to us how Mary and Joseph offered the child Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem. In this passage, we hear the mysterious words of Simeon, who was righteous and devout. On the one hand, when he sees the Christ-child, he praises God and says, “Now you are dismissing your servant in peace” (Luke 2:29). There is definitively peace associated with God’s kingdom, as the Lord does bring peace and consolation. On the other hand, Simeon says to Mary that his child will be opposed and that this conflict and resistance will also reach her own heart. The sign will be challenged, in particular the sign of the Cross.
St. John Chrysostom has this to say on the hostility that the Cross faces: “This sign shall be exposed to contradictions, that they may be refuted and confounded, who, incited solely by malice and evil, stand up against it. For if the truth be not exposed to contradiction among men, virtue would receive no fitting confirmation. But the contest that is permitted, makes clear the light of truth, to the soul that perseveres” (The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, M.F.Toal ed., vol. 1, pg. 181, 1958). Then, St. John continues: “But there shall come a time when there shall be no more contradiction…when He Whom the sign foreshadows, shall, at His Second Coming, appear to all the world, then no longer shall any one dare to contradict the Sign” (The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, M.F.Toal ed., vol. 1, pg. 182, 1958).
In the Polish tradition, today is the feast of Our Lady of the Blessed Candle (Matka Boska Gromniczna). The blessed candle or gromnica is blessed on this day, and lit in time of thunderstorms, hail, windstorms, and other perilous events. By extension, it can also be lit in time of plague and viruses. Traditionally, the blessed candle also accompanies those who are passing from this world, those who are dying. The gromnica symbolizes Christ, the Light of the World, and Our Lady’s protection on all the faithful who invoke Christ’s power.
February 2nd is also the World Day for Consecrated Life. In the words of St. John Paul II, this day serves to “help the entire Church to esteem ever more greatly the witness of those persons who have chosen to follow Christ by means of the practice of the evangelical counsels” (Ordo 2019-2020, pg. 132). We pray the Father’s blessing upon those who have set themselves apart, dedicated themselves completely to Jesus through vows or promises of poverty, chastity and obedience.
The feast of the Presentation of the Lord makes apparent the themes of encounter, of God returning to His house, of opposition and contradiction, but also of hope and peace. Our Lady’s heart will be pierced, but in the end, her divine Son will triumph. On this day, we also remember and pray for in a special way all those who live the consecrated life.
(Fr. Pawel Ratajczak, OMI, Feb. 2, 2020)