The Presentation of the Lord Gospel: Luke 2:22-40 Following the Example of Jesus ‘Parents, Conforming to God’s Holy Will
Today, the Church celebrates the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. The Gospel according to Saint Luke tells us: “When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord” (Luke 2:22).
If we carefully consult Scripture, we find in the Law of Moses these words: “When a woman gives birth to a male child, she shall be unclean for seven days, with the same uncleanness as during her menstrual period. On the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised” (Leviticus 12:2-3). And again, the same book records: “When the days of her purification are completed—whether for a son or a daughter—she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a year-old lamb for a holocaust offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. If she cannot afford a lamb, she may take two turtledoves or two pigeons: one for a holocaust offering and the other for a sin offering” (cf. Leviticus 12:6-8). Today, the Holy Family of Nazareth, in obedience to the Law of Moses, offered simple gifts to God (cf. Luke 2:21-24), setting for us an example of humility and conformity to His will. For this reason, in our lives, we must always remain humble, ever ready to fulfil God’s holy will, just as Abraham was prepared to do.
In fact, in Jesus’ time, many people lived like Simeon—under Roman rule, in a world of suffering and turmoil. They longed for a political leader to deliver them from such conditions. Thus, when Simeon, moved by the Holy Spirit, recognized the salvation that God had promised Israel, he could not help but praise God. To this day, the universal Church sings this beautiful canticle of Simeon in the Liturgy of the Hours, Similarly, in our world today, many suffer under the weight of sin or the pressures of life, longing for relief from earthly pain. By nature, they, like us, desire liberation from present sorrows. Simeon embraced the incarnate Christ in his arms and praised the God of Israel in a way he deemed fitting, setting for us an example of praising God in all circumstances. We too must, like Simeon, open our arms to receive “the true light that enlightens everyone” (John 1:9) into our hearts. Through penance and prayer, let us guard this new light, so that we may always live in its radiance, no longer dwelling in the shadow of death brought on by sin.
Today, the Church celebrates the Presentation of the Lord, calling us to imitate the Blessed Virgin Mary and her chaste spouse Saint Joseph, Simeon and Anna, and above all, Jesus Christ, who always cantered His life on the Father’s will. Let us, like them, fully commit ourselves to God, offering all that we are and have.
Almighty ever-living God, we humbly implore your majesty that, just as your Only Begotten Son was presented on this day in the Temple in the substance of our flesh, so, by your grace, we may be presented to you with minds made pure. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.Amen.
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12a The Christian Beatitudes
Today is the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. I begin by wishing you all a joyous Sunday.
The passage from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew, which we have just heard, tells us: Jesus went up the mountain and began to teach the crowds who had gathered around him about the Beatitudes. We know that the mountain is a symbol of God’s encounter with humanity. Therefore, the Beatitudes proclaimed on the mountain, along with the crowds and disciples who gathered with Jesus there, together form a prototype of the visible Catholic Church.
The eight Beatitudes mentioned in the Gospel passage—those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those persecuted for the sake of righteousness—embody the very philosophy of life of Jesus. He calls those who wish to follow him to be like him, to return love for love, and to manifest the Father’s mercy everywhere and at all times.
Today, we live in a world that is constantly filled with conflict and uncertainty. This world urgently needs us to infuse it with more certainty through our constant imitation of Christ’s actions, to bring more love and warmth to this cold world, and to restore it to the harmony of creation as it was in the beginning when God first made it.
Saint John Bosco Gospel: Mark 4:35-41 Saint John Bosco: Father and Friend of Youth
Today is the Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time. The Church celebrates the Memorial of Saint John Bosco today.
The Gospel passage from Saint Mark tells us: After dismissing the crowd, Jesus got into the boat with His disciples and sailed across a sea stirred by a fierce wind. The boat was being battered by waves and was already filled with water. The disciples were terrified and thought they were perishing. So, they woke Jesus, crying out for Him to save them.
We often face challenges brought by this world. As students, we endure pressures of studies and entrance exams; in our work, we confront competition from colleagues or within the same profession; in family life, conflicts arise from disagreements among loved ones, sparking strife. We also encounter temptations from the prince of this world and his minions: when we offer prayer to God, he tries to turn our inward hearts toward outward worldly concerns; when we participate in the Mass, we sometimes focus on ritual rather than on all that God reveals to us through His ministers in the Sacred Liturgy of the Mass.
In Saint John Bosco, we see the image of a servant of Christ who walked through storms.
Saint John Bosco (August 16, 1815 – January 31, 1888), a renowned Italian Catholic priest and educator, founder of the Salesians of Don Bosco, is honored as “Father and Friend of Youth.” His life overflowed with selfless love for impoverished youth, yet it was marked by multiple storms and trials.
As his biography recounts:
Bosco’s life began amid “storms”: He lost his father at age two, leaving his family in dire poverty. His elder brother obstructed his pursuit of education, declaring, “A farmer’s son is not worthy of studying,” while the Piedmontese countryside was ravaged by famine due to war and drought. This mirrored the urgency of the Gospel scene—“a boat tossed by a sudden storm”—as he struggled from childhood on the brink of being “overwhelmed.” His mother Margherita’s resilience and faith were his first “lamp of faith.” At age nine, a dream like a call from Jesus showed him direction amid the storm: A noble man urged him, “Win your friends not with blows, but with gentleness and kindness. Show them sin is ugly and virtue beautiful.”
As an adult, Bosco faced fiercer “waves” in Turin. He founded the Oratory to shelter orphans and street children, yet neighbors complained of “noisy disturbances,” and authorities expelled them, deeming the gatherings “dangerous” and fearing revolution. The orphans he took in once stole blankets and destroyed haylofts; the number of residents grew from 36 in a few small rooms to 800, straining resources like a “ship about to sink.” Worse, the anti-religious policies of the Kingdom of Piedmont swept over him like a “fierce wind”: confiscating Church property, suppressing religious orders. He wrote to King Victor Emmanuel II to protest but was ignored. Interrogations and assassination attempts followed—knife attacks, clubbing, shootings. Traditional clergy accused him of “stealing faithful from their parishes”; nationalists viewed his youth groups as “breeding grounds for revolution.”
Yet Bosco never allowed fear to consume his faith. Recalling the exhortation of the “noble man” from his nine-year-old dream, he took “gentleness and kindness” as his oar: teaching youth trades, protecting them from abusive employers (drawing up contracts to forbid corporal punishment and ensure rest), sleeping on straw mats with his mother, sharing meager meals, and persisting despite repeated expulsions. Facing political pressure, he stood firm in his mission like Jesus rebuking the winds and waves: “I live not for myself, but for these children forgotten by the world.” This faith gradually calmed the “storms”—the king’s tacit protection with the order “do not disturb him,” Prime Minister Cavour’s intervention, even the “divine warning” of successive royal deaths (though unproven).
Ultimately, Bosco’s faith, like Jesus calming the storm, turned the Oratory into a “safe harbor” for youth. He founded the Salesians of Don Bosco, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, and the Salesian Cooperators, institutionalizing “gentleness and kindness” to restore dignity and education to thousands of orphans. Before his death, looking at the youth filling his courtyard, he smiled: “I once feared they would perish, but now they have become my ship.”
I wish to take this opportunity to say to the superiors of the Bosco family, all Salesians, communities under the patronage of Saint John Bosco, brothers and sisters in Christ, and those discerning a vocation to the consecrated life: Saint John Bosco is Father and Friend of Youth, and above all, our model. When we face storms, let us imitate Saint John Bosco, entrust ourselves courageously to the Lord Jesus Christ with full faith, and fulfill the mission He has entrusted to each of us.
O God, who raised up the Priest Saint John Bosco as a father and teacher of the young, grant, we pray, that, aflame with the same fire of love, we may seek out souls and serve you alone. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen
全属于祢 
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