February 2 goes by many names in the Catholic Church, such as the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple and, more commonly, Candlemas.
Fulfilling a Mosaic law, Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the Temple, as St. Luke narrates, "And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, 'Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord')" (Luke 2:22-23).
St. Luke narrates how, while at the Temple, the Holy Family encountered an old man named Simeon, who proclaimed:
Now, Master, you may let your servant go
in peace, according to your word,
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you prepared in sight of all the peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and glory for your people Israel.
A feast of encounter
Pope Benedict XVI commented on this feast during a homily in 2010, connecting it to the idea of encounter:
In the East this Feast was called Hypapante, a feast of encounter. In fact, Simeon and Anna, who met Jesus in the Temple and recognized him as the Messiah so long awaited, represent humanity that encounters its Lord in the Church.
Even the tradition of lighting candles on this day reflects the theme of encounter:
[T]his Feast also spread to the West, where above all the symbol of light and the procession with candles which gave rise to the term "Candlemas" developed. This visible sign is intended to mean that the Church encounters in faith the One who is "the light of men" and in order to bring this "light" into the world, receives him with the full dynamism of her faith.
This can remind us that every time we visit a Catholic church, we encounter God in a similar way that Simeon and Anna encountered the baby Jesus in the Temple.
The church is a place of encounter, a meeting place where we can be changed by the Lord.
