Reflection for the Feast of the Presentation of Christ

by Ed McKibbin, Notre Dame Associate

The prayer below was sent home from my boy’s school.
It seems to fit as we celebrate the Presentation of Christ this weekend.

Heavenly Father, on this Feast of Candlemas (the Presentation of Christ), I recall the gift Mary and Joseph gave to the world by offering baby Jesus to You in the temple.

I offer up to You all the children in my family. I place them into Your perfect will and I turn their futures over to You.

Help me to let go of my ideas of what they should do with their lives, and show me how to guide them into the purposes for which You created them. Help me to learn from the example of the Blessed Mother, whose heart was pierced by the sword of her Son’s pain, how to always trust in Your plans. Holy Family, pray for us.

Amen.

On this Feast of Candlemas I believe it is a good time to assess how we depend upon and trust God in our daily lives.  Simeon and Anna are two people referenced in the Gospel, in addition to the examples provided to us by Mary and Joseph, who live their daily lives based upon complete trust in and dependence upon God.  Simeon and Anna are rewarded by having the opportunity to personally witness in person that long awaited Messiah.

This is a good lesson for us in our daily lives.  When we reply upon ourselves, as opposed to God, we find that it is easy to become frustrated and angry during the difficult times in our lives.  However, when we turn our lives over to God completely, and depend upon God in our day-to-day lives, we are rewarded, like Simeon and Anna, with the feeling of God’s presence in our daily lives when moments become challenging.

I acknowledge that this is often easier said than done, because we tend to be prideful and think we are strong enough to handle anything that comes our way.  Yet, God calls us, and is always there for us to trust and depend upon Him to lead us in our lives.  Those times we can do this are the times when we feel most at peace given that we sense the presence of God in everything we do and in everything that comes our way in life.