Readings: Malachi 3.1-5, Psalm 24.1-10, Hebrews 2.14-18, Luke 2.22-40

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen

A word from Lucy: On the 2nd February, it will be forty days since we celebrated the Nativity, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and this is the date of the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, also known as Candlemas. It is customary in the Church to celebrate this feast day and traditional to move it to the nearest Sunday. This feast day is a reminder that in Jesus’ time it was a deeply rooted custom to present first-born sons in the temple, with a sacrifice, and to carry out purification rituals for the mothers. In our time, a vestige of this custom remains in the BCP practice of “Churching of Women”. However, on this particular day, when Jesus was brought to the temple, God sent two old and devout worshippers to meet the promised Messiah, their Lord and their saviour. Simeon and Anna were their names, and both found and recognised who this child really was, both gave thanks and praise to God, both shared prophesies about what was to come because of this child, and both gave witness that this was the promised one that God’s people were waiting for.

Today, we know that Jesus is the one who was foretold by the prophet Malachi: the Lord who came to refine and purify us so we can be made pleasing to the Lord at the time of judgement. Today we know that Jesus is the one with clean hands and a pure heart spoken of in the psalm who was able to bless us with the gift of salvation. Today we know that Jesus is the one that the letter to the Hebrews tells us destroyed the power of death and our fear of it by making one final and everlasting sacrifice for the atonement of all sins for us. In the celebration of the Feast of Candlemas, we bring this to life as we change our attention and focus away from the crib of the nativity and turn ourselves towards the cross of our salvation. Then, as we put away our advent candles and Christmas tree, we prepare ourselves for the forthcoming season of Lent.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus Christ, light of the nations and glory of Israel: make your home among us and present us pure and holy to your heavenly Father, your God, and ours. Amen