Reflection From

Fr. John

February 2, 2025

This week we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Typically, in ancient Jewish tradition, the presentation of infants was done forty days after their birth (Lev 12:1-4). This period of forty days was prescribed after the birth of a son.

It was a time of purification and rest for the mother after childbirth. On the fortieth day, the mother would go to the temple with her newborn son to offer sacrifice as part of her purification process.

In the Gospel this week, we encounter Jesus, Mary and Joseph offering sacrifice in the temple. They have traveled from their hometown of Nazareth to Jerusalem, almost 75 miles. Joseph and Mary sacrificed a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons on behalf of Mary’s purification. This sacrifice was known as the “offering of the poor” because it was only done by those families who could not afford a year old lamb.

St. Luke mentions another important Jewish ceremony, the custom of circumcision. Jesus, as a Jewish male, would have been expected to undergo this ceremony as an infant allowing Him to be incorporated into the body of the Jewish people. This practice prefigured Baptism, which incorporates a person into the body of the Church. Circumcision was also meant as a form of purification. Those who were circumcised were purified and became part of the chosen people. This purification would take on a deeper meaning and significance with the coming of Christ. As Fulton J. Sheen mentioned, the shedding of Christ’s blood at this moment already foreshadowed Jesus’ salvific work and Calvary. Circumcision cleansed the outside, while Baptism would cleanse the soul.

By following the ritual purification laws of the time, both Jesus and Mary demonstrated tremendous humility and love. Mary, being conceived without Original Sin, didn’t have need of ritual purification. Jesus, being the Son of God, didn’t need to undergo purification. However, both Jesus and Mary fulfilled their religious obligations to demonstrate for us the importance of following proper religious practice and undergoing purification rituals in order to be cleansed of our sinfulness.

This cleansing of sinfulness is a practice we continue today through the celebration of the Sacraments. The priest at every Mass, ritually washes his hands before beginning the Eucharistic Prayer. This is a symbolic gesture, signifying purification from sinfulness. In the sacraments of Baptism and Reconciliation the interior heart of a person is cleansed of sin. May we imitate the example of Jesus and our Blessed Mother and come often to be purified of our sins by participating in the Sacraments, especially Reconciliation.

Father John

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