“The Day of the Presentation of Jesus Christ to the Temple” was celebrated with a special mass at the Iskenderun Annunciation Latin Catholic Church. The Holy Mass was directed by the Anatolian Apostle and Bishop, Monsignor Paolo Bizzeti.
According to the Law of Moses, at the end of their purification days, Joseph and Mary took the child to Jerusalem to consecrate to the Lord. As a matter of fact, it is written in the Law of the Lord that “Every firstborn boy will be deemed to be consecrated to the Lord.” At that time there was a man named Simon in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit was on him, and it was communicated to him through the Holy Spirit that he would not die without seeing the Christ of the Lord.
Simon came to the temple at the direction of the Spirit. When the father and mother of little Jesus brought him in to fulfill the relevant rule of the law, Simeon took him in his arms, praising God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”
The day when these holy words come true; The Entry of Jesus Christ to the Temple (Day of the Light) was celebrated with a mass held at the İskenderun Annunciation Catholic Church. Candles were blessed in the mass, and then the church congregation lit these blessed candles and directed their prayers to God.
While the Holy Mass started in the garden of the church, with the sanctification of the candles distributed to the congregation by the Bishop Bizzeti and the lighting of the candles, the Bishop ahead and the members of the congregation behind him entered the church.
Bishop Bizzeti, who gave a sermon about the meaning and importance of the day, stating that this holiday is one of the oldest Jewish holidays; “Why did we enter the church with candles? Because Jesus is the light of the world, He is the one who enlights the world. On the Easter night, we enter the dark church with candles. He came and enlightened our world. God grants this grace to some people so that they see and recognize Jesus as ‘the Messiah’. We have taken this as a blessing and we proclaim that; Jesus is Christ.
We will be filled up with happiness if we accept Jesus as our savior. This is not such a natural thing for everyone to be aware of. If we keep this admiration in our hearts, our lives can be different. God is with us, it reminds us this holiday. Who accepts Jesus will get rid of the fear of death and live with hope” he said.
At the end of the mass, which was attended by a small number of congregation members and was carried out in accordance with the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic measures, “Holy Communion” was distributed to the congregation. (SAT-7 Turk / İlyas Edip TERBİYELİ-İskenderun)
