February 2, 2025; Luke 2: 22-40; Presentation of the Lord
In today’s gospel Simeon calls Jesus “the light of revelation to the Gentiles.” The image of light is meant to show us Jesus’ power and purpose. Jesus’ light makes God’s truth visible and clear. It guides the entire world toward the fulfillment of God’s will. Now you and I as followers of Jesus are meant to reflect his light. But the difference between Jesus’ light and our reflection of it is huge. Jesus’ light is bright and permanent. Our light by comparison is dim and inconstant. It is helpful that our liturgical tradition blesses candles on today’s feast of the Feast of the Presentation, because a candle provides us with a useful image to understand today’s gospel. There are two aspects of the candle that can speak to us. First, a candle gives us enough light to see. Second, a candle can be relit.
The range of a candle’s light is not great. Those of us who have used a candle during an electrical blackout understand that a candle can barely illuminate a small room. Yet in a pinch, it’s enough. It can get us through the night. The same is true in our lives. When we face a crisis in our family because of finances, sickness, or serious disagreement, it would be wonderful if we had enough light to look into the future see the opportunities and the choices that we could make to resolve what is wrong. But we don’t have that kind of light. The light of our candle gives us only enough light to see the next step, the next choice we can make to move us forward. But the gospel tells us that light is enough. So, trust in God and make that choice. It will get you through the night.
The second characteristic of a candle that can be helpful is that a candle can be relit. All of us at one time or another have failed. We have dropped the ball. It might be because our marriage came to an end. It might be because we have seriously hurt a friend through of our selfishness. It might be because a tragedy has torn our lives apart and made us unable to believe that God still loves us. We stop practicing our faith. Our candle goes out. But it is still a candle. It can be relit. That, in fact, is what God wants to happen and promises to bring about in our lives. So, for a while we may have to sit in the darkness of our selfishness, failure, or disbelief. But we sit as unlit candles, waiting for God’s flame. Therefore, is always hope, hope that Jesus will allow us to display his light anew.
God’s light is powerful and bright. Our light is dim and inconstant. But here is the good news. No matter how dim our light may be, the gospel promises us that it is enough to see. And if our candle were to go out, we believe that Jesus would give us his light again.
If you put all of these in a book form and published it. It would be a treasure!!