2025/02/02 SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
- Erika Wenson, Communications Associate
When thinking of the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus, it’s difficult for me not to think of the Lion King scene where Rafiki, the town the monkey oracle, lifts Simba up for the whole kingdom to see in this dramatic culminating scene from the song “Circle of Life”. I know all my 90s babies out there get it. Based on our Gospel reading this weekend, we are not met with pomp and circumstance when we read the story of Mary, Joseph, and their family bringing Jesus into the temple in Jerusalem to be presented to the Lord.
In fact, the story only highlights two people who are noticing and recognizing the significance of this moment and who the child Jesus truly is: Simeon and Anna. Nonetheless, it’s written here for us to contemplate on, and that contemplation I believe is that we are meant to recognize the significance of the Holy Spirit which was dwelling within both Simeon and Anna. Both are exceedingly old in age. Both have lived ample lives in faithfulness to God. Both were led by the Holy Spirit to approach Jesus and his family to proclaim that Jesus will save the whole nation of Israel and all the Gentiles. Talk about significant statements to be made well before Jesus’ years of ministry!
Simeon and Anna’s faithfulness shows us the beauty of patient waiting. They spent decades in prayer and devotion, trusting in God’s promises even without knowing when or how they would be fulfilled. Their persistence in faith teaches us that sometimes, the most transformative moments of our lives come not in the grand or dramatic, but in the quiet and ordinary, much like we are in Ordinary Liturgical Time right now. The Presentation of Jesus reminds us that God often reveals Himself in ways we least expect. Are we attuned to recognize His presence when it doesn’t come with fanfare or spectacle?
Their recognition of Jesus as the Messiah also challenges us to cultivate a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Simeon and Anna were able to see what others in the temple could not—a reminder that it is not always the loudest or most obvious signs that point us to God. How often do we overlook the sacred in our day-to-day lives because we are waiting for something extraordinary? This Gospel invites us to slow down, listen deeply, and trust that God is at work in the quiet moments, just as He was in the temple that day. Like Simeon and Anna, may we live in such a way that when God shows up, we are ready to recognize and proclaim His presence.