20260202 BE THE LIGHT OF THE NATIONS BY LIVING A LIFE OF CONTRADICTION
02 February 2026, Monday, Presentation of the Lord
First reading | Malachi 3:1-4 |
The Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter his 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 fullers’ 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.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 23(24):7-10 |
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
O gates, lift high your heads;
grow higher, ancient doors.
Let him enter, the king of glory!
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
Who is the king of glory?
The Lord, the mighty, the valiant,
the Lord, the valiant in war.
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
O gates, lift high your heads;
grow higher, ancient doors.
Let him enter, the king of glory!
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
Who is he, the king of glory?
He, the Lord of armies,
he is the king of glory.
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
Gospel Acclamation | Lk2:32 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The light to enlighten the Gentiles
and give glory to Israel, your people.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 2:22-40 |
My eyes have seen your salvation
When the day came for them to be purified as laid down by the Law of Moses, the parents of Jesus 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.
BE THE LIGHT OF THE NATIONS BY LIVING A LIFE OF CONTRADICTION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [MAL 3:1-4; HEB 2:14-18; LK 2:22-40]
There are many people in the world today who are yearning to see the Lord. There is a deep vacuum in their lives. Consciously or unconsciously, they long for meaning, fulfilment, peace, joy, and love. Somehow, even with self-sufficiency in material and physical needs, they remain restless and empty. Like Simeon in the Gospel, they long to see the light of salvation. Like Israel, they await the Lord’s return to the Temple. We must remember that after Malachi, there were no more prophets. The people expected Elijah to come again before the Messiah returned. With the birth of John the Baptist, however, the Messiah had indeed come to the Temple of Jerusalem as a little child, presented to the Father for the salvation of humanity.
What is the cause of so much emptiness, hatred, and intolerance in the world? This emptiness in life is brought about by various factors.
Firstly, secularism has taken God out of public life, even in schools and in some Catholic organisations. Questions of God, faith, and religion are relegated to the private sphere, considered inappropriate for public discussion and, for some, even shameful to acknowledge. Today, it has become fashionable to claim to be a “free thinker.” As a result, signs of the sacred are gradually being removed from public view.
Secondly, the promotion of relativism has led to individualism and subjectivism. Without any absolute foundation in whatever we do, we can no longer speak meaningfully of God, who is the perfection of life. There is also a diminishing capacity to love beyond oneself, to think of others, and to place God and humanity before self. Life becomes centred on “me” and my happiness. Consequently, there is a lack of gratitude for what we have received from our parents, our forefathers, and from society.
Thirdly, without an experience of the sacred and the transcendent, the human person is reduced to a merely material being. Although he possesses a soul with spiritual needs, this dimension of life is forgotten or, rather, suppressed. Left only with the body, he seeks fulfilment through self-indulgence, entertainment, and pleasure. Materialism and consumerism are manifestations of a person who has lost touch with the sacred and with the joy of encountering transcendence in life. His existence becomes no more than that of an animal–work, eat, enjoy, and sleep.
Today, as we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, we are reminded of our calling to be the light of the nations, as our Lord Himself was. As the Lord God declares, “Look, I am going to send my messenger to prepare a way before me.” We are the messengers He is sending into the world today, so that we may bring the light of Christ–the light of hope and mercy–to humanity. Like Jesus, we are called to purify the house of God, so that all may come to worship Him in spirit and in truth, with grateful hearts and pure hands.
And how can we do this, if not by living a life of contradiction in a positive way? In the Gospel, Simeon prophesied, “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–so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.” Indeed, as Christians, we are called to live the life of the Kingdom here and now as a foretaste of the life to come. We are called to live out Gospel values as enshrined in the Beatitudes.
Yet today, some of us have become a contradiction to the very life we are called to live. Instead of embracing simplicity, we seek to enjoy the world and its pleasures as much as anyone else. We are just as attached to the world and its temptations as the rest of humanity. Instead of living a life of charity–exemplary of a loving, caring, and forgiving community–we form cliques and pressure groups within the community. Instead of submitting in obedience to God’s will and to our legitimate superiors, we expect all superiors to obey us, convinced that we know the will of God better than they do.
It is necessary, once again, to reclaim our role by living lives that are contradictory to that of the world. We must be prophetic in the way we live if we are to attract others to join us. Like John the Baptist, Malachi, Elijah, and our Lord Himself, we are called to be prophets, more by how we live than by what we preach or say.
We read that Simeon “was an upright and devout man.” He was deeply in touch with the Holy Spirit: “He looked forward to Israel’s consolation, and the Holy Spirit rested on him.” Unless we are closely connected with the Holy Spirit and docile to His promptings, we cannot truly be prophets of God. A Christian life that is not first and foremost consecrated to God in prayer is a contradiction, for there is nothing more important than intimacy with God, who is the source of life and love. When we fail to pray, both as individuals and as a community, we will eventually lose our identity as prophets of God.
Secondly, a Christian does not live for himself or herself, nor even for one’s family alone. The ultimate goal of family life is service to the Church and to humanity. It is not a closed community, for we are called to live for Christ, the Bridegroom, and His Church. Yet some Church organisations operate as though they are elite clubs–exclusive and admitting only friends and relatives. The Church must always be ad intrafor the sake of ad extra. We live as a community so that, empowered and enriched by one another, we may be available for service to the wider community. Any organisation that is inward-looking will lose its reason for existence and eventually fade away, as it will no longer attract others to join.
So how do we live for the Church? First, by living a contemplative life; and second, by undertaking social or pastoral work. Emphasising one dimension, however, must never exclude the other, for both are essential to an authentic Christian life.
Some express their love for the Church through a contemplative life, as in the case of Anna, who spent her days fasting and praying for the Church. We are told that “she was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer.” Indeed, there are many who are sick or elderly, or who simply choose to devote themselves to prayer, fasting, and penance for the mission of the Church.
For most of us, however, we are called to an active apostolate in the mission of the Church. We are called to identify ourselves with our fellow human beings, as Jesus did. There can be no authentic social mission without personal identification with our brothers and sisters in their struggles and sufferings. This is what the author of Hebrews reminds us: “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 in God’s religion, able to atone for human sins.” For this reason, we must live a life of simplicity, so that we can truly identify with the poor, the suffering, and their pain. Solidarity is the first step in allowing ourselves to be moved by the Spirit to reach out to others through works of mercy and education.
It is critical that we identify with our people in their sufferings if we are to help them effectively. If there is a lack of mercy in the world today, it is often because we live in a world of self-sufficiency. We no longer feel the anxiety of parents struggling with financial difficulties for their children; or the pain of workers who are unjustly treated at work; or the suffering of those who have been abused sexually, physically, or emotionally. Unless we have some direct or personal contact with such realities, with tragedy and wounded lives, we tend to act from cold reasoning rather than from compassionate feeling. As Scripture reminds us, Christ “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 the descendants of Abraham.” By assuming our humanity, Christ conquered suffering and death, showing us the way to freedom from sin, slavery, and death.
So today, on this Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, let us renew the vows we made to the Lord on the day of our profession, ordination, or baptism. We know that we have failed to live lives of contradiction because of our human frailty, yet, let us take courage. Like Mary, let us offer whatever little we have, and God will work wonders in our lives. Mary offered “in sacrifice a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” If we bring the little we have, the Lord will reveal Himself as the Mighty One. Let us welcome Christ our King into our lives, allowing Him to reign over us as we once again give ourselves in complete obedience to Him–expressed in lives of poverty and chastity–knowing that only He can truly enrich us with His blessings and joy, and grant us a love beyond all measure, which no one and nothing else can give.
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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