Live Greater Celebrate

Feb 2, 2009

"Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord"

-Luke 2: 25-26

May the Lord give you His peace!

What a great way to start a week with a feast day! Happy feast of the Presentation of the Lord! May this feast bring you great peace and joy as we all dive into the mystery of this moment in the life of our Lord.

A friend of mine once asked me "why you Catholics celebrate so many special days?" The question was a good reminder of the richness and beauty of our Catholic faith. When you think about it, we do celebrate a lot. And when you get down to it, we celebrate our faith and the gift of God everyday. I once heard a Catholic speaker say, "you are what you celebrate." What a concept, huh? It kind of makes me think about what I celebrate in my life. What about you? What do you celebrate? Sure birthdays, Christmas and maybe occasional weddings, promotions, or achievements etc. It makes a lot of sense to say that celebrations tell a lot about a person or community.

How great is it to be a part of a Church that is alive and exploding with celebration! Everyday the Mass in celebrated in every Church and time zone. The Mass is a celebration of hope, redemption, peace and promise. Everyday through the celebration of the Mass, God reminds us that he died for us and rose from the dead in the person of Jesus and that we need not fear or be anxious about our present time. Every time we receive the Eucharist, God becomes food for to be close to us and give us all we need to love Him and follow Him. What a gift! What a celebration!

Not only do we celebrate the Mass, as it is the source and summit of the Catholic faith, but we also celebrate within the Mass different saints and individuals who have followed Christ at all costs. In addition, we celebrate different events or moments in the life of Jesus to rejoice in Him as our God and to follow Him more closely.

Today is one of those days as we reflect upon and celebrate the moment when Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the temple. What a great moment it was to have the parents of Jesus responding in great faithfulness to the Jewish law and humbly presenting Jesus in the temple as if He was just another child. And to have Simeon bless God saying, "Now you let your servant go in peace, your word has been revealed. My own eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared in the site of every people, a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel!" (Luke 2:29-32). This is a man who waited his whole life to see the Messiah and he found completion in the moment He embraced His Savior, Jesus Christ. What a moment to celebrate!

The Presentation of the Lord can teach us much about what we find ourselves celebrating these days. First, like Mary and Joseph we must find ourselves celebrating the simple duties we have in our spiritual lives: being faithful to going to Mass every Sunday, going to confession regularly, being committed to prayer, and finding silence in our day. These are things to be celebrated. Also, like Simeon, let us find great joy and celebrate the moments we encounter Jesus in a real way throughout the day. How many times could we rejoice in our Lord if we just waited for Him and paid attention to His presence in every moment!

My friends, this week let us think about what we celebrate. Take a moment to rejoice in the gift we have of being Catholic. The celebration never ends!

God Bless You,

Rusty

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