Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
The Psalm for today’s readings on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Psalm 24 (23), invites us to contemplate the Lord’s coming to us and consider our response.
For the ancient Israelites, this Psalm was a liturgical hymn, likely accompanying a rite in which the Ark of the Covenant, the sign of God’s presence, was carried into the city. One can imagine the joyful assembly of the people singing before the city gates: Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, that the king of glory may come in!
On today’s feast of the Presentation, we celebrate another arrival of the Lord in his Temple, not invisibly enthroned on the Ark or accompanied by a royal procession, but as a child of barely a month old, borne in the arms of Mary and Joseph, a poor couple from Nazareth. This coming is initially a hidden one, until Simeon and Anna, moved by the Spirit, proclaim to all who will listen the identity of this poor infant: Who is this king of glory? The LORD of hosts; he is the king of glory.
And today, the Lord comes into his Temple in a new way: he comes to the temple of our hearts in the power of the Holy Spirit, through his word and the sacraments. How shall we respond? Let us join all Israel, Simeon and Anna, and the whole Church, in a song of praise, wondering at how the Lord comes to us and pondering how we might thank him in our prayer and activity.