Happy Candlemas!
What?
A version of this Candlemas post originally appeared last year. There are so many new subscribers here at The Cottage that most readers probably didn’t see this essay on the little-known Christian holy day on February 2. Candlemas is based in a singluar biblical story of Jewish parenthood and maternal faith found in Luke 2 at the very end of the more famous Christmas story. (The text is below, just scroll to the end to read the passage in its entirety).
But I also have another reason to send it out again.
One of the spiritual practices that has most deeply shaped my faith is following the Christian year. I’ve discovered over decades of engagement that this ancient calendar holds great wisdom and often relates to contemporary events in striking ways. I’ve also learned that our time — regular, secular, western calendar time — isn’t the only way to experience time. There is an alternative time, one embedded in sacred narratives and traditions from many places and cultures. Living with both calendars has enriched my spiritual journey with a textured, multi-layered spiritual understanding of the mystery of time.
It is good to be reminded that these fraught times aren’t the only times. There are other stories — those of sacred time — inviting us to put the times of our lives in perspective.
February 2 is one of the most ancient Christian holy days — the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus — also called Candlemas. It commemorates the events of Luke 2 when Joseph and Mary brought their newborn son to the Temple in Jerusalem. The purpose was Mary’s purification, a cleansing ritual forty days after the birth of a son. Upon arriving at the Temple, they encountered Simeon, an elderly blind prophet awaiting the Messiah. He took the child from them and proclaimed:
My eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.
This event marks the final festival in the cycle of light. Weeks ago, Advent began with lighting candles in anticipation of the Jesus’ birth. The Nativity is accompanied by angelic beams on the family in a manger. Epiphany celebrates the star directing seekers to his birthplace. And, as the season following Epiphany unfolds, the light expands, inviting the first disciples to “come and see.” The final movement in the arc of light is Candlemas, where the entire world is set ablaze with God’s manifestation of love.
Christian feast days are, of course, theological. But they are laden with cultural meanings as well. In the Roman world, and in Europe where Christianity would flourish, early February was an important time in the cycle of seasons. The Presentation falls halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, and is the time when many of Europe’s ancient tribal people believed the earth woke up to new life. It marked the season of lengthening days — and was associated with fertility, the lambing season, and the returning of light.
The intersection of the Jewish story of Mary’s purification and Jesus the Light with the primal seasonal celebrations of Mother Earth and brighter days created the Christian celebration of Candlemas. Thus, on February 2, it became a practice that many Christians would bring candles to the church to be blessed — and then walk through towns or villages in candlelit processions.
The long weeks of winter candle festivals — from Advent to Christmas through Epiphany — end with us bearing light into the world. In a way, it all began so passively. Waiting for God to act, to birth peace and justice in the world. God did something for us, gave us a gift of life and light.
And the cycle concludes with a remarkable admonition — words that millions of Christians will hear next Sunday: You are the light of the world.
Yes, God created the light. Jesus is light in the darkness. And yet we — fragile and flawed human beings — are the light of the world. Jesus says, “No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others.”
We wake up the earth. We are birthing new life. We’ve journeyed from waiting to receiving to following to joining the great procession of love and justice in and through the world.
We are the light.
You are a light. Walk bravely into the world.
As the angels said once, so long ago, to Mary: Fear not!
I know that I have life
only insofar as I have love.
I have no love
except it come from Thee.
Help me please to carry
this candle against the wind.
— Wendell Berry
LENTEN REFLECTION SERIES: Crossings
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 14.
The culmination of Lent is Good Friday, with Jesus’ death on a cross. The cross is the central symbol of Christian faith, a universal sign of life in Christ. Christians wear crosses, sing about the cross, reflect on the cross, and have ritual practices at the cross.
Yet many also struggle with the cross, especially with its complicity in religious violence and a theology that seems to exalt in suffering and pain. Honestly, I’ve struggled with it over the years, often wondering if I could ever voice my reservations.
A few years ago, a church asked me to preach every day for an entire week in their Lenten series based on the theme: “It’s not about us. It’s about the Cross.”
And so, I embarked on a five-sermon exploration of the cross. Much to my surprise, I gave the cross back to myself as I struggled with the theme!
I’ve always wanted to publish those sermons — but publishers don’t publish books of sermons any longer. They’ve just been filed away on my computer. This Lent, I’m going to publish them here. At the Cottage. The sermons have been reworked and turned into longer meditations.
Over Lent, I’ll share my cross sermons each Wednesday in a series called “Crossings.” Each sermon presents a different image of the cross — the five pieces create a kind of spiritual prism to see the cross from a variety of theological angles. I think you’ll have your vision widened.
This year, Lent won’t be a daily series (like Advent). Rather the schedule will be simplified, giving you time to read, pray, and sink into the material. The tentative schedule (might be slightly revised) is:
Monday - a poem and visual to start the week
Wednesday - the sermon/meditation
Friday - five friends will present video meditations on the image from the sermon
There will be additional opportunities for conversation — and other special guests — as well.
At the end of the series, the five mediations (and some supplemental material) will be compiled into a pdf booklet — Crossings — for you to download, print out, and re-read.
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Luke 2:22-40
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, the parents of Jesus brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord"), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
"Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word;for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel."
And the child's father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, "This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed-- and a sword will pierce your own soul too."
There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
According to one of my clergy friends it's now time to take down our Nativity scenes!
Groundhog's Day has been one of my favorite quirky holidays, forever! You are the second person who has blogged on this greater holiday, Candlemas, and it's significance. Even Phil the groundhog is looking for the light on this day!