Bishop Richard's weekly reflection - 2nd February

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

We are celebrating this Jubilee Year, in which we are called to renew our lives as Pilgrims of Hope. This Feast of the Presentation is, in so many ways, a celebration of hope.

Simeon had spent his whole life waiting in hope for the coming of the Messiah. He had longed to see the Messiah and his hopes are fulfilled beyond measure, for he holds in his arms the Christ-child, Emmanuel – God-with-us, the Word made Flesh, our Saviour.

Anna, who has given the majority of her adult life to prayer and fasting, sees her prayers answered and cannot but tell everyone of her joy, the fulfilment of the hope of all who “were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem”, as the Gospel tells us.

We celebrate this feast with lighted candles, for the Lord is the light of the world. Let us take this light of hope into our so-often darkened world. Christ, the light of the world, shows us the value and dignity of life, the way to peace. In Him, we experience forgiveness and new life in the joyful hope of His coming at the end of time – a hope that informs our every action, and the hope we are called to share with all our brothers and sisters.

With every blessing,