Forty days after Christmas, we celebrate Jesus being brought to the house of God, the Temple, for the first time.

We have a record of Christians celebrating this event as early as the Fourth Century. In the Eighth Century Pope Sergius included a candlelight procession as part of the celebrations and so this feast has also come to be known as Candlemas.

Israel has been waiting for centuries, longing for a saviour to come. Simeon does not give up yearning. He is able to hold great hope that God's promise of salvation will someday be fulfilled. It is the Holy Spirit that allows Simeon to recognize that God's promise is coming to fulfilment in the person of this little infant.

Anna is a model of faithfulness to God. It must not have been easy for her to live as a widow-likely for more than fifty years. Yet God gives her the grace to persist as a woman of prayer and she praises God. Her daily relationship with God year after year shapes her whole person. She is both strong and sensitive. Today, in this fragile baby, Anna is able to recognize God's powerful presence in the world.

Is there anything in life for which I long, for which I deeply hope?