Our Lady of Hope Blog

My Dear Friends,

Next Sunday, February 2nd, the Church celebrates the Presentation of the Lord. This feast is scriptural, meaning that in the Old Testament, the law prescribed that parents would take their newborn child to the Temple forty days after birth. Joseph and Mary are fulfilling the law by bringing Jesus to the Temple, forty days after the Nativity. It is in the Temple that Anna and Simeon both approach the parents and acknowledge that this child is who they were both waiting to see. It is Simeon’s words that give the foundation for blessing candles on this day (commonly called Candlemas). Simeon says, “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples; a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32)

My Dear Friends,

Chapter Three of Pope Francis’s encyclical on the Sacred Heart begins with understanding the veneration, adoration, and worship of the Person of Jesus Christ, which can be found in the image of the heart. The heart is truly a symbol of friendship, love, and affection. Pope Francis writes, “Indeed, throughout history and in different parts of the world, it has become a symbol of personal intimacy, affection, emotional attachment, and capacity for love…When two persons fall in love and draw close to one another, their hearts beat faster; when we are abandoned or deceived by someone we love, our hearts sink. So, too, when we want to say something deeply personal, we often say we are speaking ‘from the heart’. The language of poetry reflects the power of these experiences.” (Paragraph 53)

My Dear Friends,

“He loved us,” Saint Paul says of Christ (cf. Rom. 8:37), to make us realize that nothing can ever “separate us” from that love (Rom. 8:39). Paul could say this with certainty because Jesus himself had told his disciples, “I have loved you” (John 15:9,12). Even now, the Lord says to us, “I have called you friends” (John 15:15). His open heart has gone before us and waits for us unconditionally, asking only to offer us his love and friendship. For “he loved us first” (cf. 1 John 4:10). Because of Jesus, “we have come to know and believe in the love that God has for us” (1 John 4:16).

My Dear Friends,

Today we celebrate the Epiphany. This important feast can be a Holy Day of Obligation, and is in many other countries. Since we have already had Christmas and Mary, Mother of God on December 25th and January 1st (as well as Immaculate Conception on December 8th) as Holy Days of Obligation, the United States Bishops decided to move Epiphany to the second Sunday after Christmas so that we could benefit from the mystery without yet another obligation.