Mass Readings for : Friday, 2nd February, 2024

Liturgical Readings for : Friday, 2nd February, 2024

The Presentation of the Lord
World Day for Consecrated Life

This feast is a remembrance of the Lord and Mary, his mother, before God’s presence, with candles in heir hands we welcome the Lord as our Light to reveal him to the nations.

First Reading

A reading from the prophet Malachi 3:1-4
The Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter the temple.

The Lord God says this:
Look, I am going to send my messenger to prepare a way before me. And the Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter his Temple; and the angel of the covenant whom you are longing for, yes, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. Who will be able to resist the day of his coming? Who will remain standing when he appears?

For he is like the refiner’s fire and the fuller’s alkali. He will take his seat as refiner and purifier; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and then they will make the offering to the Lord as it should be made. The offering of Judah and Jerusalem will then be welcomed by the Lord as in former days, as in the years of old.

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm Ps 23
Response Who is the king of glory? It is the Lord.

1. O gates, lift up your heads; grow higher, ancient doors.
Let him enter, the king of glory! Response

2. Who is the king of glory? The Lord, the mighty, the valiant,
the Lord, the valiant in war. Response

3. O gates, lift high your heads; grow higher, ancient doors.
Let him enter, the king of glory! Response

4. Who is he, the king of glory? He, the Lord of armies,
he is the king of glory. Response

SECOND READING

A reading from the letter to the Hebrews 2:14-18
It was essential that he should in this way become completely like his brothers and sisters.
Since all the children share the same blood and flesh, Jesus too shared equally in it, so that by his death he could take away all the power of the devil, who had power over death, and set free all those who had been held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. For it was not the angels that he took to himself; he took to himself descent from Abraham. It was essential that he should in this way become completely like his brothers so that he could be a compassionate and trustworthy high priest of God’s religion, able to atone for human sins. That is, because he has himself been through temptation he is able to help others who are tempted.

The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God

Gospel Acclamation Acts 16: 14
Alleluia, alleluia!
The light to enlighten the pagans and the glory of your people Israel.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 2:22-40 Glory to you, O Lord
My eyes have seen your salvation.

When the day came for them to be purified as laid down by the Law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord- observing what stands written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord- and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:
‘Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace, just as you promised;
because my eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared for all the nations to see,
a light to enlighten the pagans and the glory of your people Israel’.

As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
‘You see this child:
he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected,
and a sword will pierce your own soul too so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare’.

There was a prophetess also, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.

When they had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God s favour was with him.

The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Gospel Reflection 2^nd Feb The Presentation of the Lord Luke 2:22–40

The prayer of Simeon in today’s gospel reading has become part of the Night Prayer of the Church, ‘Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace’. He is now ready to embrace death because his eyes have seen the Saviour promised by God in the Jewish Scriptures. It is often said of people who are dying that they seem to hang on until some loved one who has been away arrives to their bedside. Then, having seen their loved one or heard their voice, they slip away. When a young couple came to the Temple that day with their new born child, Simeon knew that the one he had been longing to see had finally arrived and he was now ready to depart this life. Simeon’s prayer has become part of the Night Prayer of the church because believers have recognized from earliest times that Simeon’s prayer can easily become our prayer. Our eyes too have seen the salvation that God has prepared for all the nations to see. The light of God that shone upon Simeon through the child Jesus in the Temple on that day has shone upon all of us. The risen Lord journeys with us every day as God’s light, dispelling our darkness, guiding us along the right path. The candles we light on this day remind us that we have seen Jesus, the light of the world, with the eyes of faith, and that we will see him face to face in heaven, when eternal light shines upon us. The other elderly person in the gospel reading, Anna, spoke about the child of Mary and Joseph, God’s light to enlighten everyone, to all those who were looking forward to the Saviour whom God had promised. She reminds us that having looked upon Christ our Light with the eyes of faith, we are called to allow his light to shine through us so that others can be drawn to him.