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The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta  

Archbishop
John F. Donoghue

phone: 404-920-7300
fax: 404-920-7301
2401 Lake Park Dr. S.E.
Smyrna, GA 30080

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From Archbishop Donoghue

School Mass
February 2, 2001
Christ the King School

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Dear Friends in Christ, and especially my young friends who are students here at Christ the King School,

Today we are celebrating the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord in the Temple. Back in the times of the Bible, and from the earliest days that the Jewish people were chosen to be God’s special people, there was a law – and more than a law, it was a living custom, something that everybody wanted to do and liked to do – that involved the ceremonies you would follow after you had had a baby. You would make the journey up to Jerusalem, which was the holiest city, and there, at the temple, the great temple that had been built by King David and his son King Solomon, you would present your child, and make a gift to the Lord in thanksgiving. If you were rich, the gift might be a lamb, which in those days was worth quite a lot of money. But if you didn’t have much money, you would buy two doves, and give these instead. And the gift you gave at the temple, was to thank God for your child – to thank him for blessing your home with children, and to ask Him to look out for your children, after you went back home, and they began to grow up, and to face all the challenges and difficulties of life.

After Jesus came, and began the Church to which we belong, the Catholic Church, He changed the customs a little, although He never rejected the law and the customs that belonged to His people. I think it is fair to say, that by making the changes He did, He turned the rite of presentation into something even more special – even more meaningful to us, the people who follow Him, and to God, who still looks down, and pays very special attention every time a baby is born – every time He makes this special gift to mothers and fathers and families, of giving them a new-born life.

And the custom that Jesus created to be followed at the birth of babies, is what we call the Sacrament of Baptism. It is true that anyone can receive Baptism at any time – you all know, or have seen, especially at Easter, many older men and women, who have never before been a part of the Church, who have converted to our Faith, and who then are baptized as a sign that they have become a part of our Christen family, and our Church.

But most of you, just like Jesus, were brought to the Church when you were very little – and just like Him, you were presented to God in a special, official way – and though we don’t anymore offer up a gift of two doves, your parents and your god-parents did hold you up, before the eyes of all your relatives and friends, and in the Presence of God, and they gave thanks to God for giving you to them, and then the priest or the deacon, made you a true child of God, by doing what Christ told us to do – by letting water run over your heads, and saying those very special words, that are only said at Baptism: “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.” These words are only ever spoken once for each of us – because as soon as they are said, and the water runs over our head, we are from that moment on, children of God, and we are bound for all our lives, to follow the way of our Lord, the way He wants us to live, the way He has taught us in the Gospel, and the way that the Church teaches us.

Very early in our Church’s history, it became a custom for people who had been baptized, and who were ever after walking in the light of the Lord, to have special ceremonies to remember their Baptism – and as a part of the ceremony, they would walk through the streets carrying candles and torches that had been blessed especially for that day. And it also became the custom to have these ceremonies on February the 2nd, the feast of our Lord’s Presentation, just like we are doing today. And that is why we also call this day a name you will probably hear sometime in your life – the name of Candlemas.

And so to make our celebration really correct and meaningful, we also are going to bless candles today, and I will be giving each of you a special candle of your own. I want you to keep this candle, and on your next birthday, or on the anniversary of your own Baptism - and your parents will gladly tell you when that was - I want you to take this candle out, and to think about all the things we talked about today, and all the things this candle is meant to remind you of – your birth, and how that was a blessing from God to your families and friends – and how, just as Jesus our Lord was presented in the Temple, you also were presented to God, and baptized, and made a His own child, His own son or daughter; and I especially want you to remember, that because of the special power of that Sacrament, you now have in you a kind of magic, a magic we call grace, and that just like the light of a candle fills the darkness, that grace, that magic, is meant to light you own path through life, and to protect you from whatever evil, whatever bad things might cross your path, as your grow up, and come more in contact with the world around you.

Dear young friends, when Christ was presented in the Temple, an old wise man named Simeon, who many believed was a prophet, a spokesman for God, looked at Jesus and said some amazing words about Him, about this little baby who would grow up to be Christ the Lord. He said:

This child is the light of the people, and a sign of God’s salvation.

Today, as we bless these candles, I want you to remember that whenever you think you cannot find the answer, whenever you are upset and troubled, whenever you think that the way ahead looks dark, always think back to your Baptism, think back to the candles we bless on this special day, Candlemas day, and let your heart tell you what you already know – that Jesus is truly a light for all of us, and that if we believe in Him, if we do what He teaches us in the Gospel, if we follow the laws and customs of His Church, our Church, then the darkness will be filled with His light, and we will have no trouble at all seeing where we should go, and knowing how we should act. And if we do this, no matter what age we are, then the words of the Gospel that described Jesus after His presentation in the Temple, will also be true of us: we will grow in size and strength, and we will be filled with the wisdom and the grace of God.

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