Skip to main content

Presentation of the Lord

Presentation of the Lord: Feast Day Feb. 2nd 

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of The Presentation of the Lord. This is the day that Saint Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary took the infant Jesus to the temple to consecrate Him to the Lord. I recently learned from the book, Theology of the Body for Beginners, by Christopher West, something even more insightful about Jesus’ presentation at the temple. Besides just fulfilling Jewish law, the presentation was the day that the Lord returned to the temple as the Bridegroom. How amazing is that to think about?! 

As Christians, we can draw a connection to Jesus’ dedication to the Lord in our lives by reflecting upon our Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. Most of us were baptized as infants—set apart as children of God—like Jesus was consecrated to the Father as an infant. As teens, we then took a personal ownership of our Baptismal vows by reaffirming them to the Lord and then receiving His gift of being sealed by The Holy Spirit. So, as you celebrate today’s feast day with your family, ponder your Baptismal vows, your reaffirmation of them at your Confirmation, and the beautiful reality that you are set apart and claimed as a Child of God destined for the ultimate Sacrament of the Wedding Feast of the Lamb! 

Celebrating Through Food:

Since Saint Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary offered “the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons” (Luke 2:24) when they presented Jesus to the Lord at the temple, make homemade “turtle” candies and pair them with “Dove” chocolates to make a “pair of turtledoves.” These delicious Rolo, pretzel, and pecan turtle treats are one of my favorite easy to make candy treats I remember making as a kid, and chocolate is just plain awesome. Here is a recipe for Rolo Turtles from “Food.com.” 

Celebrating Through a Craft:

Make paper turtledoves and hang them up somewhere in your home. The website, Far Out City, has an easy paper turtledove craft you can create. You can also print out the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary coloring pages, from the website, “The Catholic Kid,” and use them as visuals to help young children pray the Rosary.

Celebrating Through Prayer:

Say the Rosary together as a family focusing on the Joyful Mysteries: (1) The Annunciation, (2) The Visitation, (3) The Nativity of the Lord, (4) The Presentation of the Infant Christ, and (5) The Finding of the Christ Child at the Temple. RosaryCenter.org explains how to pray the Rosary, if you need a refresher, as well as ways to pray the Rosary without distractions. 

Here also is a prayer I wrote that you and your family can say together today if you’re unable to say the Rosary: 

Dear Lord, as you were brought into the temple and presented to the Lord, help me to reflect upon your humility and your desire to always do the will of the Father. Help me to to be humble, and help me to seek to do the will of the Father to glorify His holy name. Help me also to remember, that through my Baptism, I have been claimed in Christ and set apart as a Child of God; and help me to live my life in a way that is always pleasing in your eyes. Amen.

Additional Information:

Here is a great article, from “Franciscan Media,” with additional information about the Presentation of the Lord you and your family can read. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Feast Day: Nov. 17th  Saint Elizabeth of Hungary has always held a special place in my heart since she is my confirmation saint. If I'm being honest, when I was reading about saints back in the eighth grade, trying to choose which saint I wanted to take as my patron, my requirements were as follows: (1) She couldn't die a horrible death, (2) She was married with kids, (3) and her life was pretty good allowing her to serve God and others through the blessings she'd been given. In hindsight, my list of "requirements" was probably a little superficial, but now as an adult I focus more on the virtues and saintly qualities of Saint Elizabeth, and find inspiration in how she lived. She was humble, a kind and loving wife and mother, and very generous to the poor. She also made plenty of time to pray and grow in her relationship with the Lord. On her wedding day, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, who was a princess, did not wear a crown. Instead she s...
Post a Comment
Read more

Invite Your Parish Priest Over for Dinner:

Invite Your Parish Priest Over for Dinner: Four months after moving into our new house, my husband and I decided to invite our parish priest over for dinner and to bless our new home. We still had piles of unpacked boxes, our toddlers were bouncing off the walls with excitement, and my husband and I were a little nervous. Was our home clean enough? Would we be able to engage in good conversations with our guest? When the doorbell rang, our children raced to the door, and began bouncing around, welcoming Father inside. During dinner, we found that the conversations flowed easily. We shared stories about where we grew up, our families, and various other details as we got to know one another outside of church. We laughed as our daughter spilled the beans that my husband and I were expecting our third child, and when we shared our due date, our priest began enthusiastically sharing all sorts of common, as well as some crazy sounding, saint names for days on and near our due date.  Afte...
1 comment
Read more

Make a Rosary Garden—Planting Flowers and the Seeds of Prayer

Make a Rosary Garden—Planting Flowers and the Seeds of Prayer:  On the lawn outside of my family's parish, there is a stepping-stone Marian-Rosary garden. Often, after attending daily Mass, on warm or non rainy days, my children love to run around the rosary stones, encircling the statue of Mary, and sit upon the garden's benches. The days when they would run around, only able to exclaim the words, "Hail, Mary! Hail, Mary! Hail Mary!" for each stone, are precious treasured memories I hold within my heart. When we entered the pandemic shutdown, in the spring of 2020, I didn't realize just how much I missed the rosary garden tradition my children and I had after Mass. When my husband and I scheduled confession with our pastor, twelve days into the shutdown, we took turns waiting with our children and letting them play and pray in the rosary garden, while we participated in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I'd always desired to make a Mary/Rosary garden in our ba...
Post a Comment
Read more