Feast of the Holy Family, Year B

On the 8th day after the birth of Jesus, our gospel reading begins: “When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord” (v. 22). And then in just a few verses Luke presents a host of religiously themed actions: circumcision, naming, purification, presentation, consecration. He writes as though this was an orderly flow of events of what you would do in the Jewish tradition upon the birth of a child. It seems as such to the modern reader unfamiliar with 1st century Jewish birth traditions – as they perhaps were to Luke, by tradition a gentile convert to Christianity. There is a lot going on… and then we are introduced to a righteous and devout man”, Simeon, and a prophetess, Anna – who even at 8 days old recognizes that the infant is the fulfillment of God’s promises – the Messiah.

There is a lot more to this gospel. Sit with it for a moment on the back porch.

Full Text of the Sunday Readings

Detailed Commentary on the Gospel

Image credit: Giotto di Bondone, Presentation of Christ in the Temple | Lower Church in the Basilica of San Francesco, Assisi | PD-US