Today is Candlemas, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which celebrates how Jesus was presented to God in the Temple in Jerusalem, forty days after his birth. What a joyous occasion that must have been for Mary! The presentation was a ritual of the Mosaic law and a precursor to the Sacrament of Baptism that we experience under the new covenant.
I didn’t give birth to the Messiah, of course, but I remember clearly the day Nathan was baptized. He was a few months old and Mr. Andi and I were still acclimating ourselves to the Down Syndrome diagnosis he got at birth. Mr. Andi would eventually convert to Catholicism, but at the time he was steadfastly standing outside the Church. I was just as steadfastly intent on having our son baptized but the actual day of his baptism was an emotional challenge because Mr. Andi was so uncomfortable – and he didn’t hide it very well.
