The Feast of Candlemas - Reflection by Canon Leslie

​Today Liverpool Cathedral is celebrating Candlemas, the Feast of the Presentation of the infant Christ in the Temple. The celebration has its roots in Luke’s birth narratives when Mary and Joseph take the infant Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem for the ceremony of the purification of the mother forty days after the birth. In the Temple the Holy Spirit inspires two special, elderly, and holy people to prophesy about the infant Jesus’ future. It is here in the Temple that Simeon speaks of Jesus as a light bringing God’s salvation to the Gentiles as well as to the Jewish people. Simeon’s prophecy was expressed in the canticle known as the Nunc dimittis
My eyes have seen your salvation,
            which you have prepared in the presence of all people,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
            and for glory to your people Israel
 
For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for today’s service during the preceding week, I invited you to reflect on the image of lights in order to enrich and to deepen the power of Simeon’s prophetic insight into God’s plans for Jesus. In today’s picture from their book Light, Aled and Sian are discovering how the single light bulb in their attic enables them to see the many things stored there.
 
To read the book, Light, please follow this link to the story on the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/Exploring%20Why%20Series/Light/Light%20Short%202016%20WEB.pdf. For more adventures with Aled and Sian, follow this link to the Exploring Why page under the Resources tab of the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/Exploring%20Why.html.
 
Next Sunday, the season of Epiphany draws to a close with Transfiguration Sunday. It is here on the Mount of Transfiguration that the divine revelation clothes Jesus with robes of pure and dazzling white. The image to help us prepare for that reading is wearing white. You can find out more about that theme here https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. We would really appreciate you letting us know how you are using these materials. Please send us your ideas and photos of the things you may create; email them to Nelson.Pike@liverpoolcathedral.org.uk.
 
We warmly invite you to join us in worship online here: 
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​Aled and Sian send their Sunday greetings to all.
 
Canon Leslie