Candlemas

Feast of Candlemas: Temples of Stone & Flesh

St Mary’s Langley – Evensong
2/2/25

Haggai 2:1-9
John 2:18-22

Today the Church has been celebrating the Feast of Candlemas. I explained in my Charlwood Family Service this morning that Candlemas marks a turning point in three ways. Within the Church it is the moment we take a last look at Christmas and the infant Jesus before turning towards the cross. In the northern hemisphere it marks the turning from winter towards spring which heralds the shift from darkness to light.

We see change and transition in our Gospel readings set for today. This morning was sweet baby Jesus carried into the temple by his young parents for the expected rituals required by their Jewish faith. This ordinary event transitioned to a divinely appointed meeting with Simeon and Anna. Jesus is revealed as the light of the world and an ominous warning was given to Mary. This evening grown-up Jesus returns to the same Temple and causes some havoc. The ominous warning follows as the rising and falling of many begins. Our account is the conversation that followed Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple.

The Temple was the beating heart of Judaism. Anyone who has been fortunate enough to visit Jerusalem can appreciate the size and scale of it as the centre point. The Temple was the home of worship, music, the focal point of politics and Jewish society, a place of national celebration and mourning. Westminster Abbey or St Paul’s Cathedral are somewhat a parallel in terms of significance to the people. The Temple was the place where YHWH, God had promised to live in the midst of his people.

Yet over time it became more of a market-place and one of corruption; and it is now under God’s judgement. Those who were selling the animals for sacrifice and the money-changers did need to be there. Jewish law required the right sacrifices to be offered. Unfortunately dodgy practices had infiltrated and corrupted the Temple. People were being cheated out of money by their own people. This is what Jesus was raging against.

We see Jesus on the side of those being cheated, devalued and treated badly. Jesus certainly had zeal; both for the Temple as his Father’s house and for the oppressed people. The Temple had been made into something it was never supposed to be. Jesus is correcting a serious wrong by showing that He will restore things to the way they should be.

The Jews in attendance ask for an explanation, a sign for why Jesus is tearing the place up. This is not unreasonable as they would likely not know who He was.

Who here does not like a sign? We will reflect on the significance of signs for a few minutes. There are the obvious signs that feature in everyday life; fire exits, stop signs, traffic signals, push/pull, open/closed enter/exit, etc. These signs provide practical information and direction, keep us safe, and bring order to the world around us.

There are also practical signs that we cannot see. This past week I got a lesson in infra-red technology in a fire truck on a Gatwick taxi-way. It was pouring rain and we were sitting behind a plane that had an engine fire warning light flashing in the cockpit. There was no outward sign of smoke or flames; but the attention of the fire crews was on the cameras that showed heat (within normal levels) coming from both engines. There was no sign of imminent danger but that did not mean there was not any. Anyway that plane was not going to be flying that day.

Then there are the signs from God. Many prayers have begun with, ‘God if you are real…give me a sign.’ These tend to be prayed in times of desperation and fear, when all control is lost and people come to the end of themselves. God in his infinite goodness answers these prayers. Often not as expected as the external conditions might not change and/or even get worse. The answer can be an internal sign or feeling of overwhelming peace and love, a change of perspective or defusing of intense emotion that can allow for clearer thinking.

There are wrong and dangerous places to look for signs: anything that is human-made like tarot cards, mediums, horoscopes, reading tea leaves. People can become so hungry for signs that they will consume anything that looks like it might give them what they seek.
We need to be people who can read the signs of the times correctly and it takes work.

Back to the Temple. It is useful to remember that the Temple was the second one that had been built. The First Temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians around 587/586 BCE as the Jews were sent into exile by King Nebuchadnezzar. This was a devastating event for the Jews that reverberated for centuries.

The rebuilding of The Second Temple began about 50 years after the first destruction. Then it stalled out for about 20 years. Two to three generations have now passed, the exile was over and they could return home to Jerusalem. This is what and who the prophet Haggai is speaking into.

Haggai is a tiny two chapter book towards the end of the Old Testament and is the tenth of the 12 minor prophets. Not much is known about Haggai: his name means ‘festal’ which is fitting for the prophet who called the Jewish people to rebuild the temple of God and to bring back worship in Jerusalem.

In Haggai’s second sermon, he is reminding the Jews of the exodus when God called the Hebrews out of Egypt. Jesus and the disciples arrived in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover. Passover is a time to remember what God had done in the past when he saved the Jewish people from Pharaoh in Egypt. It was also a celebration of liberation, freedom and rescue from slavery.

Haggai was a champion for the homeless as he called the Jewish community to action in the rebuilding of the Temple. He was also calling the Jewish people to wake up to their responsibilities, obligations, privileges and promises of their heritage.

Jesus did the same thing when he entered the temple. He is reminding the Jews of the Ten Commandment as they were breaking at least two of them: the making of idols (money) and stealing. Jesus was referring to himself in the remark about the destroyed Temple rising up in three days. Jesus is the true temple, the word made flesh and cannot be corrupted. Haggai proclaims that the true glory of the Second Temple will not be the gold and silver of the nations but of God himself.

Jesus appeared in the Temple as a six week old baby and was shown to be the light of the world. He returned at that Feast of Passover pointing to himself, the temple of his body. Jesus is the one we are to watch and wait for. It is not always easy waiting.

At least two or three generations passed before the rebuilding of the first temple began when Haggai appeared and time had come. Anna had waited for decades in the Temple for the arrival of the Messiah. Simeon had been promised that he would not see death before he saw the Lord’s Messiah.

For us, we are to watch for the signs when Jesus will come again. We are to take courage, in the words of Haggai, ‘take courage, all you people of the land, you people of Langley, for I am with you. My spirit abides among you; do not fear.’

Candlemas: Cleaning up

Candlemas – Year B
28/1/24

Malachi 3:1-5
Luke 2:22-40

Christmas is now really and truly over. Although it has felt like that for a while! As we celebrate Candlemas today we have the final Christmas reminder that Jesus came as the light of the world. This is the message that everyone needs right now.

Sometimes the light of Jesus comes in ways that are unexpected. It comes in epiphany moments like we have seen in our readings over the last 2 weeks. Other times light dawns slowly, like noticing that the sunrise is coming earlier each day and the evenings are growing longer. The light comes as it comes; showing us God’s faithfulness.

We are shown God’s faithfulness in the fulfilment of Malachi’s prophecy. The messenger and the Lord spoken of in verse 1 are John the Baptist and Jesus. John came to prepare the way for Jesus. To the surprise and disbelief of many, Jesus comes to the temple as a baby in the loving arms of his parents.

Mary and Joseph, being good Jewish parents, bring Jesus to the temple in order to fulfil Jewish law. Any presentation was a three-step process: the rite of circumcision, rite of redemption and rite of purification.

The Rite of Circumcision is first commanded in Genesis by God. It would serve as a sign of the covenant (a promise) between God and Abraham. The rite of circumcision was God’s way of requiring the Jewish people to become physically different, by cutting off because of their relationship to Him. Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day of his young life.

The New Testament also talks about circumcision; of a spiritual nature and not a physical one. Colossians 2:11 ‘In him (that being Jesus) you were also circumcised, in putting off the sinful nature.’ We too, like the Jewish people, are to be different because of our relationship with Jesus.

We all have bits of ourselves, if we are honest, that could be cut off. Those things in our characters or personalities that are difficult or unpleasant. We may or may not be aware of them. Maybe we do not always understand why people react to us the way they do. Maybe we hold our opinions, money or possessions a little too tightly? We may have areas of sin that need to be cut out. This is what Jesus came to do for those who believe in Him.

The Rite of Redemption was a reminder to the Jewish people that ‘the Lord brought them out of Egypt with his mighty hand’ (Exodus 13). God had redeemed His people from their slavery in Egypt. Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem in obedience and thanksgiving to God for having redeemed His people.

Young parents would present their firstborn son to God, symbolising the act of giving him up to God by saying ‘He is Yours and we give him back to You.’ Then they would immediately redeem him or buy him back effectively with a lamb of a pair of birds.

We all must be redeemed. For us non-Jews, we are not bought with birds from God by our natural parents. Rather, we are bought by Christ who used his life to redeem our sinful, natural states and gave us to God.

In the New Testament Jesus fulfills this very rite as he came to redeem us. Paul in Ephesians explains, ‘in Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.’

Thirdly, the Rite of Purification. This is the last of the baby birth rites. It is an act of cleansing for the mother after giving birth. When this time was over (33 days for a boy and 66 days for a girl), the mother was to bring offerings to the priest. The required sacrifice was a lamb plus a turtle dove. However, if the mother could not afford a lamb, she was to take two turtle doves.

This is what Mary and Joseph bring, the offerings of poverty; they brought the least sacrifice permitted by Jewish law. Yet they had in their arms the greatest sacrifice that God could ever make for purification – Jesus.

Malachi speaks of the Lord being like a refiner’s fire and fullers’ soap. These are both painful ways of being cleaned. A refiner’s fire is incredibly hot to burn off the impurities of gold and silver. If Mum or Nan has ever had a go at you with the soap and a brush – you will know the pain of being cleaned with a hard scrub. Again, these OT images of physical purification are translated into spiritual purification in the NT.

In these rituals, Jesus is presented to the people he came to save and redeem. This is where Simeon and Anna fit. They were at the temple the day that Jesus was presented. They are proof of the faithfulness of God. We will tread lightly on one of the major themes of Candlemas which is death. It is fair to say that Simeon and Anna are at the end of their lives.

Simeon was told that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Simeon held on to this promise by living a devout life and waited. Maybe for decades until finally the day came.

Simeon got himself ready through devotion, worship, prayer, watching and waiting. Anyone wanting to experience the glory of God, want to deepen your relationship, strengthen your faith; be like Simeon and work at it! Simeon’s faithfulness is rewarded by God’s faithfulness as he responds to seeing the baby who is ‘a light for revelation to the Gentiles’.

The faithfulness of God also features in Anna’s story. She was the next person Jesus is presented to. Her life has been defined by death as Jesus’ would be. Anna was widowed probably when she was 20 or 21, she would not have had children and now she is 84. Anna has lived a life of patient hope as she spent 65-ish years in the temple. She did not waver, did not give up but daily lived in faithfulness and expectation until the day the Messiah arrived.

On this day of presentation, we too can present ourselves again to God. We do not need to sacrifice any lambs or birds, we can go directly to the Father. By holding the three rites: circumcision, redemption and purification as what Jesus ultimately came to do for us; we can come to fuller understanding and richer life in Jesus.

We need circumcision to cut away those things in us that do not bear fruit. Jesus will do a much better job of this than we ever will.
We need redemption to be brought into the family of God. Only Jesus can do this for us with his blood.
We need purification as we need clean hands and a pure heart. Not so that we can behave better or follow the rules; rather that we can live fully and abundantly not weighed down by sin and guilt.

When we look at the world around us and into our own lives, we need God’s light. We need to see things and ourselves the way they are. We also need God’s light and faithfulness to lead and guide us into abundant life. To be light to others. Let your light shine.

29/1/23

Psalm 48:1-7
Malachi 3:1-5
Luke 2:22-40

Candlemas reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world. This is the message that we and the wider world needs right now. There is light in the darkness of the current age and that light is Jesus. This is the same opening that I used last year! Not that I expect you to remember that.

The world sadly remains in very much the same position; darkness, violence, oppression in many places, etc. We wait, not always patiently, for things to get better or at least to be less bad.

The prophet Malachi speaks to the time when, ‘The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.’ This is partly fulfilled when the baby Jesus arrived at the temple in the loving arms of his parents. Mary and Joseph, being good Jewish parents, bring Jesus to the temple as was the custom of the day. This was to be expected as part of custom and fulfilment of Jewish law. Any presentation was a three-step process: circumcision, redemption and purification.

Circumcision is first commanded in Genesis by God. It would serve as a sign of the covenant (a promise) between God and Abraham. The rite of circumcision was God’s way of requiring the Jewish people to become physically different, by cutting off because of their relationship to Him. Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day of his young life.

Thirdly, the Rite of Purification. It is an act of cleansing for the mother after giving birth. When this time was over (33 days for a boy and 66 days for a girl), the mother was to bring offerings to the priest. The required sacrifice was a lamb plus a turtle dove. However, if the mother could not afford a lamb, she was to take two turtle doves. They brought the least and were given the greatest.

In these rituals, Jesus is presented to the people he came to save and redeem. This is where Simeon and Anna fit. They were at the temple the day that Jesus was presented. They are proof of the faithfulness of God. Simeon got himself ready through devotion, worship, prayer, watching and waiting. Anyone wanting to experience the glory of God, want to deepen your relationship, strengthen your faith – be like Simeon and work at it!

The faithfulness of God also features in Anna’s story. I don’t think you can talk about Simeon and then ignore Anna. She was the next person Jesus is presented to. Anna has lived a life of patient hope as she spent 65-ish years in the temple. She didn’t waver, didn’t give up but daily lived with faithfulness and expectation until the day the Messiah arrived.

On this day of presentation, we are reminded again of the ultimate faithfulness of God. We see the examples in the lives of Joseph, Mary, Simeon & Anna. We experience God’s faithfulness in the life of Jesus. We also have to trust in the unseen faithfulness of God, the faithfulness to come. Jesus is the light of the world; even when we cannot or choose not to see it.

We will all be presented to God one day – hopefully well into the future. We have to work at having pure and clean hearts and hands. Between now and then, may the faithfulness of God to us and our faithfulness to him be evident to all.

Candlemas: The Light in the Darkness

January 30, 2022

Malachi 3:1-5

Luke 2:22-40

Candlemas reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world. This is the message that we and the wider world needs right now. There is light in the darkness of the current age and that light is Jesus. Sometimes the light of Jesus comes in ways that are unexpected. Sometimes it comes quickly like lightning. Other times it comes slowly, like noticing that the sunrise is coming earlier each day and the evenings are growing longer. Either way, God is faithful.

We are shown God’s faithfulness in the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy. The messenger in verse 1 is John the Baptist who came to prepare the way for Jesus. ‘The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple’, to the surprise and disbelief of many this is the baby Jesus in the loving arms of his parents. Not as expected.

Mary and Joseph, being good Jewish parents, bring Jesus to the temple as was the custom of the day. This was to be expected as part of custom and fulfillment of Jewish law. Any presentation was a three-step process: circumcision, redemption and purification.

Circumcision is first commanded in Genesis by God. It would serve as a sign of the covenant (a promise) between God and Abraham. The rite of circumcision was God’s way of requiring the Jewish people to become physically different, by cutting off because of their relationship to Him. Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day of his young life. This was the first action of devout Jewish parents for a firstborn son. The New Testament also talks about circumcision, but this is of a spiritual nature and not a physical one. Colossians 2:11 ‘In him (that being Jesus) you were also circumcised, in putting off the sinful nature.’ We too, like the Jewish people, are to be different because of our relationship with Him.
We all have bits of ourselves, if we are honest, that could be cut off. Those things in our characters or personalities that are difficult or unpleasant, that make life harder than it needs to be. Maybe we hold our money and possessions a little too tightly? We may have areas of sin that need to be cut out. This is what Jesus came to do for those who believe in Him.

The Rite of Redemption was a reminder to the Jewish people that ‘the Lord brought them out of Egypt with his mighty hand’ (Exodus 13). God had redeemed His people from their slavery in Egypt. Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem in obedience and thanksgiving to God for having redeemed His people. Young parents would present their firstborn son to God, symbolizing the act of giving him up to God by saying ‘He is Yours and we give him back to You.’ Then they would immediately redeem him or buy him back effectively with a lamb of a pair of birds. We must all be redeemed. For us non-Jews, we are not bought with birds from God by our natural parents. Rather, we are bought by Christ who used his life to redeem our sinful, natural states and gave us to God. In the New Testament Jesus fulfills this very rite as he came to redeem us. Ephesians ‘in Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.’

Thirdly, the Rite of Purification. This is the last of the baby birth rites. It is an act of cleansing for the mother after giving birth. When this time was over (33 days for a boy and 66 days for a girl), the mother was to bring offerings to the priest. The required sacrifice was a lamb plus a turtle dove. However, if the mother could not afford a lamb, she was to take two turtle doves. This is what Mary and Joseph bring, the offerings of poverty; they brought the least sacrifice permitted by Jewish law. Yet they had in their arms the greatest sacrifice that God could ever make for purification – Jesus. They brought the least and were given the greatest.

Malachi talks of the Lord being like a refiner’s fire and fullers’ soap. These are both painful ways of being cleaned. A refiner’s fire is incredibly hot to burn off the impurities of gold and silver. If Mom or Nan has ever had a go at you with the soap and a brush – you will know the pain of being cleaned with a hard scrub. Again, these OT images of physical purification are translated into spiritual purification in the NT.

In these rituals, Jesus is presented to the people he came to save and redeem. This is where Simeon and Anna fit. They were at the temple the day that Jesus was presented. They are proof of the faithfulness of God. I am going to tread lightly on one of the major themes of Candlemas which is death. I am not afraid to talk about it; I was a MacMillan Palliative Care Nurse for a few years.

However, we have all had our fair share of death in the last two years from Covid. It is fair to say that Simeon and Anna are at the end of their lives.
Simeon was told that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Simeon held on to this promise by living a devout life and waited – maybe for decades until finally the day came. Simeon got himself ready through devotion, worship, prayer, watching and waiting. Anyone wanting to experience the glory of God, want to deepen your relationship, strengthen your faith – be like Simeon and work at it! Simeon’s faithfulness is rewarded by God’s faithfulness as he responds to seeing the baby, ‘a light for revelation to the Gentiles’.

The faithfulness of God also features in Anna’s story. I don’t think you can talk about Simeon and then ignore Anna. She was the next person Jesus is presented to. Her life has been defined by death as Jesus’ would be. Anna was widowed probably when she was 20 or 21, she would not have had children and now she is 84 – so spent 65-ish years in the temple. Anna has lived a life of patient hope as she spent 65-ish years in the temple. She didn’t waver, didn’t give up but daily lived with faithfulness and expectation until the day the Messiah arrived.

On this day of presentation, we too can present ourselves again to God. We don’t need to sacrifice any lambs or birds, we can go directly to the Father. If we can hold the three rites: circumcision, redemption and purification as what Jesus ultimately came to do for us; we will come to a fuller understanding of Jesus and a richer life in him.

We need circumcision to cut away those things in us that do not bear fruit. Jesus will do a much better job of this than we ever will.

We need redemption to be brought into the family of God. Only Jesus can do this for us with his blood.

We need purification as we need clean hands and a pure heart. Again – it is in the death and resurrection of Jesus that we are cleansed.

God is faithful in all of these things and all through our lives if we look to the example of faithfulness of Simeon and Anna.

Candlemas: Presentation is Everything

Candlemas – Year B
Hambleden Valley Group Zoom Service
31/1/21

Malachi 3:1-5
Luke 2:22-40

The Presentation of Christ (Candlemas) officially marks the end of the Christmas and Epiphany seasons. Have any of you left the Christmas decorations up a little longer this year? In the church we will start to turn our attention to Lent which begins in a few short weeks. Before we plunge into this new season, we celebrate Candlemas as reminder that Jesus is the light of the world. This is the message that I think we and the wider world needs right now.

There is light in the darkness of the current age and that light is Jesus. Sometimes the light of Jesus comes in ways that we might not be expecting – sometimes it comes quickly as the blinding light from the heavens. Other times it comes slowly, like noticing that the morning light is coming earlier each day and the evenings are growing longer. Either way God is faithful even if at times He is unexpectedly so.

We are shown God’s faithfulness in the fulfilment of Malachi’s prophesy. The messenger is John the Baptist who came to prepare the way for Jesus. ‘The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple’, to the surprise and disbelief of many, is the baby Jesus in the loving arms of his parents. Not as expected.

Mary and Joseph, being good Jewish parents, bring Jesus to the temple as was the custom of the day. This was to be expected. Any presentation was a three-step process: circumcision, redemption and purification.

Circumcision is first commanded in Genesis by God. It would serve as a sign of the covenant (a promise) between God and (Abraham). The rite of circumcision was God’s way of requiring the Jewish people to become physically different – by cutting off – because of their relationship to Him. Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day of his young life. This was the first action of devout Jewish parents for a firstborn son.

The New Testament also talks about circumcision, but this is of a spiritual nature and not a physical one. Colossians 2:11 ‘In him (that being Jesus) you were also circumcised, in the putting off the sinful nature.’ We too, like the Jewish people, are to be different because of our relationship with Him. We all have bits of ourselves, if we are honest, that could be cut off. Those things in our characters or personalities that are difficult or unpleasant, that make life harder than it needs to be. Maybe we hold our money and possessions a little too tightly? We may have areas of sin that need to be cut out. This is what Jesus came to do for those who believe in Him.

The Rite of Redemption was a reminder to the Jewish people that ‘the Lord brought them out of Egypt with his mighty hand’ (Exodus 13). God had redeemed His people from their slavery in Egypt. Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem in obedience and thanksgiving to God for having redeemed His people.

Young parents would present their firstborn son to God, symbolising the act of giving him up to God by saying ‘He is Yours and we give him back to You.’ Then they would immediately redeem him or buy him back effectively with a lamb of a pair of birds.

We must all be redeemed! For us non-Jews, we are not bought with birds from God by our natural parents. Rather, we are bought by Christ who used his life to redeem our sinful, natural states and gave us to God. In the New Testament – Jesus fulfils this very rite as he came to redeem us. Ephesians ‘in Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.’

Thirdly, the Rite of Purification. This is the last of the baby birth rites. It is an act of cleansing for the mother after giving birth. When this time was over (33 days for a boy and 66 days for a girl), the mother was to bring offerings to the priest. The required sacrifice was a lamb plus a turtle dove. However, if the mother could not afford a lamb, she was to take two turtle doves. This is what Mary and Joseph bring, the offerings of poverty – they brought the least sacrifice permitted by Jewish law.

Yet they had in their arms the greatest sacrifice that God could ever make for purification – Jesus. They brought the least and were given the greatest.

Malachi talks of the Lord being like a refiner’s fire and fullers’ soap. These are both painful ways of being cleaned. A refiner’s fire is incredibly hot to burn off the impurities of gold and silver. If Mom or Nan has ever had a go at you with the soap and a brush – you will know the pain of being cleaned with a hard scrub.

Again, these OT images of physical purification are translated into spiritual purification in the NT. In these rituals, Jesus is presented to the people he came to save and redeem. This is where Simeon and Anna fit. They were at the temple the day that Jesus was presented. They are proof of the faithfulness of God.

I am going to tread lightly on one of the major themes of Candlemas which is death. I am not afraid to talk about it; I was a Macmillan Palliative Care Nurse for a few years. I am aware of the milestone in Covid deaths this past week and that we are constantly reminded of death. It is fair to say that Simeon and Anna are at the end of their lives.

Simeon was told that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Simeon held on to this promise by living a devout life and waited, likely for decades until finally the day came. Simeon got himself ready through devotion, worship, prayer, watching and waiting. Anyone wanting to experience the glory of God, want to deepen your relationship, strengthen your faith – be like Simeon and work at it! Simeon’s faithfulness is rewarded by God’s faithfulness as he responds to seeing the baby, ‘a light for revelation to the Gentiles’.

The faithfulness of God also features in Anna’s story. I don’t think you can talk about Simeon and then ignore Anna. She was the next person Jesus is presented to. Anna was a widow and had spent her life in the temple. Her life has been defined by death – as Jesus’ would be. Anna had lived a life of patient hope as she spent 65-ish years in the temple. She didn’t waver, didn’t give up but daily lived with faithfulness and expectation until the day the Messiah arrived.

On this day of presentation, we too can present ourselves again to God. We don’t need to sacrifice any lambs or birds we can go directly to the Father. If we can hold the three rites: circumcision, redemption and purification as what Jesus ultimately came to do for us; we will come to fuller understanding of Jesus and a richer life in him.

We need circumcision to cut away those things in us that do not bear fruit. Jesus will do a much better job of this than we ever will.

We need redemption to be brought into the family of God. Only Jesus can do this for us with his blood.

We need purification as we need clean hands and a pure heart. Again – it is in the death and resurrection of Jesus that we are cleansed.

Jesus is the light of the world. Jesus is the faithful and loving light of the world. He is our light and we need to share His light to those around us living in darkness. We need to be light to each other.

God is faithful in all of these things and all through our lives if we look to the example of faithfulness of Simeon and Anna.