postID: 7049; title: The Fourth Sunday After The Epiphany
groupKey: secondary
postID: 353373; title: The Eve of the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Candlemas)
groupKey: other
The Eve of the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Candlemas)
The Fourth Sunday After The Epiphany
Almighty and everlasting God, who dost govern all things in heaven and earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of thy people, and in our time grant us thy peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Array
(
[date] => 2009-02-01 11:00:00
[scope] =>
[year] =>
[month] =>
[post_id] => 567
[series_id] =>
[day_titles_only] =>
[exclusive] => 1
[return] => formatted
[formatted] =>
[show_date] =>
[show_meta] =>
[show_content] => 1
[admin] =>
[debug] => 1
[filter_types] => Array
(
[0] => primary
[1] => secondary
)
[type_labels] => Array
(
[primary] => Primary
[secondary] => Secondary
[other] => Other
)
[the_date] => 2009-02-01 11:00:00
)
3 post(s) found for dateStr : 2009-02-01postID: 6716 (Brigid of Kildare)
--- getDisplayDates ---
litdate post_id: 6716; date_type: fixed; year: 2009
fixed_date_str: February 1
fixed_date_str (mod): February 1 2009
formattedFixedDateStr: 2009-02-01
=> check date_assignments.
=> NO date_assignments found for postID: 6716
displayDates for postID: 6716/year: 2009
Array
(
[0] => 2009-02-01
)
postPriority: 999postID: 353373 (The Eve of the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Candlemas))
--- getDisplayDates ---
litdate post_id: 353373; date_type: fixed; year: 2009
fixed_date_str: February 1
fixed_date_str (mod): February 1 2009
formattedFixedDateStr: 2009-02-01
=> check date_assignments.
dateAssigned: 2026-01-31 (2026)
yearAssigned (2026) does NOT match year (2009)
displayDates for postID: 353373/year: 2009
Array
(
[0] => 2009-02-01
)
postPriority: 999postID: 7049 (The Fourth Sunday After The Epiphany)
--- getDisplayDates ---
litdate post_id: 7049; date_type: variable; year: 2009
Variable date => check date_calculations.
=> check date_assignments.
=> NO date_assignments found for postID: 7049
displayDates for postID: 7049/year: 2009
Array
(
[0] => 2009-02-01
)
postPriority: 3primaryPost found for date: 2009-02-01 with ID: 7049 (The Fourth Sunday After The Epiphany)
secondaryPost found with ID: 353373 (The Eve of the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Candlemas))
The Fourth Sunday After The Epiphany
The Eve of the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Candlemas)
Array
(
[date] => 2009-02-01 11:00:00
[scope] =>
[year] =>
[month] =>
[post_id] => 567
[series_id] =>
[day_titles_only] =>
[exclusive] => 1
[return] => simple
[formatted] =>
[show_date] =>
[show_meta] =>
[show_content] => 1
[admin] =>
[debug] => 1
[filter_types] => Array
(
[0] => primary
[1] => secondary
)
[type_labels] => Array
(
[primary] => Primary
[secondary] => Secondary
[other] => Other
)
[the_date] => 2009-02-01 11:00:00
)
3 post(s) found for dateStr : 2009-02-01postID: 6716 (Brigid of Kildare)
--- getDisplayDates ---
litdate post_id: 6716; date_type: fixed; year: 2009
fixed_date_str: February 1
fixed_date_str (mod): February 1 2009
formattedFixedDateStr: 2009-02-01
=> check date_assignments.
=> NO date_assignments found for postID: 6716
displayDates for postID: 6716/year: 2009
Array
(
[0] => 2009-02-01
)
postPriority: 999postID: 353373 (The Eve of the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Candlemas))
--- getDisplayDates ---
litdate post_id: 353373; date_type: fixed; year: 2009
fixed_date_str: February 1
fixed_date_str (mod): February 1 2009
formattedFixedDateStr: 2009-02-01
=> check date_assignments.
dateAssigned: 2026-01-31 (2026)
yearAssigned (2026) does NOT match year (2009)
displayDates for postID: 353373/year: 2009
Array
(
[0] => 2009-02-01
)
postPriority: 999postID: 7049 (The Fourth Sunday After The Epiphany)
--- getDisplayDates ---
litdate post_id: 7049; date_type: variable; year: 2009
Variable date => check date_calculations.
=> check date_assignments.
=> NO date_assignments found for postID: 7049
displayDates for postID: 7049/year: 2009
Array
(
[0] => 2009-02-01
)
postPriority: 3primaryPost found for date: 2009-02-01 with ID: 7049 (The Fourth Sunday After The Epiphany)
secondaryPost found with ID: 353373 (The Eve of the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Candlemas))
The reading_id [73302] is already in the array.
No update needed.
Scripture citation(s): Hebrews 2:14-18
A Sermon by
Fr. Mead
on
Hebrews 2:14-18
✛
A Light to Lighten the Gentiles
Array
(
[0] => 60773
)
book: [Array
(
[0] => 60773
)
] (reading_id: 73302)bbook_id: 60773
The bbook_id [60773] is already in the array.
No update needed for sermon_bbooks.
He had to be made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest, to make expiation for the sins of the people. Hebrews 2:14-18
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.
The Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, nicknamed Candlemas, concludes the Infancy/Incarnation narrative which began at Christmas. From Christmas to Candlemas is forty days (February 2nd to be exact), so our Christmas thank-you notes are late after tomorrow (but better late than not), and our little crèches now do need to go back to the closet.
At Candlemas Mary and Joseph present the forty-day-old baby Jesus in the Temple in a ritual prescribed by the Law of Moses rooted in the Exodus and the Passover. The first-born son was to be redeemed by a substitution sacrifice of a lamb; or, if the family were poor, by a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. Saint Luke says that the Holy Family took the poor people’s option.
Jesus undergoes from his birth rites ordained for sinners. The entire story of his infancy, told by Saint Matthew from Joseph’s perspective and by Saint Luke from Mary’s perspective, shows the self-emptying and humbling of the Lord – not only by taking our human nature upon himself, but much more by undergoing rites of passage that indicate the participant is a sinner in need of redemption. Candlemas, Christ’s Presentation in the Temple as well as the Purification of his Immaculate Mother, is a great epiphany of the divine condescension on our behalf.
Our Lord not only partakes completely of our nature in flesh and blood. Even more, he goes through rites which unite him to something he is not, something which mars and diminishes our human nature; namely, sin. Jesus, by being presented and redeemed as an infant, and later, by being baptized at the beginning of his public ministry by John the Baptist, shows solidarity with sinners. In the words of the Apostle, “He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God.” Or again, “He was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.” Thus, he is about the business of reconciling the world to himself; and, because he has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help us in our temptations and trials.
The Infancy of Christ, say all the Evangelists, is a prelude, as are all subsequent episodes, to Christ’s final great Act. His Nativity and Circumcision and Presentation in the Temple; his Baptism, Fasting and Temptation in the wilderness, his teaching and ministry and miracles of healing – all these lead to the greatest submission, trial, healing, and lesson of all: his Passion and his Crucifixion on Good Friday between two sinners. In the end, Jesus, whose whole life is lived in perfect union with God his Father, is nailed up as a sinner. The Good News contains the Scandal of the Cross: He who knew no sin was indeed made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
Just as Mary and Joseph presented the infant Christ in the Temple, so at last on Good Friday Christ presents himself, willingly, his integrity complete at the height of his powers, his mission accomplished, to God the Father. The veil of the Temple is torn in two from top to bottom, the earth shakes, and the rocks are split; and no wonder. The true veil of the everlasting temple of the living God is the Body and Blood of Christ: love poured out for sinful human beings and raised victorious from death on the third day. Access is gained to God’s inner sanctum, in the words of the ancient hymn, “When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.”
When we pray – as we think and speak and walk with God – this access is our mainstay, our confidence. It is our lifeline. It is the anchor of our souls. It is why we can take hold of Jesus’ Sonship with the Father and say, with boldness, Our Father, who art in heaven. Jesus is our Advocate and Mediator. He is our Friend in Court before all judgments. He is our Companion in all our griefs and troubles. Jesus crucified and risen is the Heart of the Holy and Undivided Trinity who beckons us back into God’s safekeeping. Jesus is the common ground and bond of a church. We are baptized into him. He has made himself our food and drink. We, the children of God whose childhood is marred by alienation and sin, whose inheritance is squandered by willfulness and exile into a far country, have been called home to adoption and reclamation in the One True Son. We rise to life in Him. In death, we commend our souls with confidence to him.
This is why Saint Thomas Church is “Christ-centered.” There is no other center, no other foundation for the Church. Our prayers are through Jesus Christ our Lord. Christ is the Word by whom we were made, by whom we have been saved, through whom we endure every trial and tribulation, and in whom we will find our place in heaven. He is the Word who comprehends all the words of Holy Scripture. He is the Truth in whom all truth consists and holds together.
Of all the things that a Priest and Rector is called to do, nothing is more important than setting forth the Gospel of life through Jesus Christ. Everything else in church life derives its legitimacy from it. Otherwise it is beside the point. In the words of the Apostle, “I have received from the Lord that which I now deliver to you.” This is the Gift of all gifts, and to see that you have received it is the joy of my priesthood and ministry. Nothing expresses this more clearly than when we take, eat and drink Christ’s Body and Blood “by faith with thanksgiving.”
Do you want to be saved? Then take hold of this lifeline. Hold the Gospel close to your heart for dear life. Take it with you wherever you go. Go to sleep with it and rise to a new day with it. Keep it close no matter what you are doing. When you sin, remember it, and return to your rightful mind. When you are in danger and temptation keep it especially close to your inmost thoughts, your speech, and the well-spring of your decisions and actions. Know that it can never be taken from you, unless you let go of it. Realize that it is the common ground you share with your fellow disciples, as the life of the Church fellowship. Hear it in the Holy Scriptures. See it vividly in the Sacraments. Salvation is so public, so free, so portable, so beyond all price. It is exactly like love. In fact is it love’s source, because it comes from Love Almighty Himself, who has taken our flesh and blood upon him, personally identified himself with and befriended sinners, and gone all the way to the Cross for our redemption.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
