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Fourth Sunday of the Year
28 January 2007
Light of the World and Salt of the Earth,
(Hey, that’s you, the Christian, in case you didn’t know it!) Every Easter Vigil, we gather in front of a new fire and prepare the large paschal candle which the deacon processes through the church, singing three times, Christ, our Light! to which the faithful sing back, Thanks be to God. The largest and the most prominent candle in the church is the Paschal Candle, which burns as a symbol of the presence of Christ all throughout Eastertide and at funerals as a sign of the resurrection of the body. But there are other candles in church, too: the sanctuary lamp, which hangs in front of the tabernacle whenever Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament is present; altar candles, which vary in number according to the solemnity of the celebration, and which give light to the altar; and votive lights, which we light as a symbol of our prayers rising to God even when we are not physically present. Most people don’t use candles to light their homes any more, except in a blackout or for a romantic dinner. But they are still a powerful symbol of Christ’s love piercing through the darkness.
This Friday, 2 February, we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Child Jesus into the Temple, a feast which is often called candle-mass. On that day, we commemorate that beautiful hymn of Simeon when he describes the baby Messiah, a light of revelation to the Gentiles and glory of your people, Israel (Luke 2.32), by blessing candles. So, when you come to the 7am or noon mass that day, don’t forget to bring your candles to be blessed before Mass.
One of the things we do with blessed candles is bless throats in honor of the Bishop and Martyr Saint Blaise. His feast day, 3 February, is a Saturday this year, so we are going to do the blessing after the two masses on Friday and also after the 5pm Vigil Mass on Saturday night. We will also visit the school on Friday as well, so the students can have their throats blessed.
Praised be Jesus Christ our Light!
Father Christopher