Jesus was presented to God forty days after His birth. His Presentation, a Great Feast day of the Church celebrated on February 2, is known as the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple . This feast is referred to as the Feast of the Meeting of our Lord. The gospel of St. Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple and meets His chosen people in the persons of Simeon and Anna.

The feast of the Presentation of Jesus reminds us that we are children who belong to God. Our purpose in life is revealed in the Presentation Feast. Our purpose in life is to surrender to God as His children. We surrender to God through prayer and commitment to Him. In the same month, we have a Great Feast celebrating the potential of how close we can be with God, and a gospel lesson teaching us how far we can be from God. The Prodigal son decided to leave his Father. Two weeks before Great Lent the church provides us with one of the best lessons to help us better understand not only the real meaning of Great Lent, but also the purpose of life.

The father gave his son everything. The son left his father with all the gifts he had given him. He misused the gifts and lost everything from his father. His father represents God. The son broke his relationship with God. He did not go next door, but far away. The devil desires for the children of God to be as far away from God as possible. Evil was planted in the young man so that he would have no remembrance of God. He lost his purpose in life. The understanding of belonging to God was almost completely lost. The young man realized that his independence was not independence, but a life completely empty without God. Jesus does not tell us why the son returned, but simply says, ‘the son came to himself.’ He remembered what real life was. The memory of God could not be completely removed from the boy by the devil.

The young man was able to return because he offered a sincere confession. He did not confess someone else’s sins or make any excuses. He repents and comes home to his father. We witness the joy of repentance. The father will not even allow his son to speak. The son may have attempted to repeat his confession, but the father embraces him. Repentance is not about humiliation, but being received and embraced by our Father.

“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” ( Col 3:17 ). God asked so little from us in comparison to the life He has given us. The prodigal son decided to stop living a life of praise and thanksgiving to God. The Lord from the very beginning sought the thanks of men and women. The faithful men and women in the Church lived lives that expressed gratitude to God in everything they did. If we desire to change, to truly discover God, thanksgiving must fill our life. God seeks a life of praise and thanksgiving from us, not for His benefit, but ours. The more sincere we are in our expression of thanks, the closer we become to God. “There is nothing that can bind one more closely to Him than sincere gratitude. We love Him because He first loved us” (Norval Geldenhuys).

Let us take every opportunity in our home and church to kneel before God giving thanks. There are opportunities every day to be with God. Many make the mistake of passing by the opportunities given by God. Let us not pass by the opportunities to pray and worship. Saints Simeon and Anna were chosen to have Jesus brought to them on the Feast of the Presentation. They were chosen by God because they lived their lives belonging to God through prayer worship.