On February 2, Pope Benedict XVI said that the Feast of the Presentation “is a significant icon of the giving of one’s life by those who are called to present again in the Church and in the world, through the evangelical counsels, the characteristics of Jesus, virgin, poor and obedient, the Consecrated of the  Father.”

“In the meeting of the elderly Simeon and Mary, a young mother, the Old and New Testaments come together in a wonderful way through the thanksgiving for the gift of Light which shone in the darkness and prevented it  from prevailing: Christ the Lord, the light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory to your people of Israel” (cf. Lk 2:32).

Through the Virgin Mary, may “all who have received the gift of following Him in the consecrated life be enabled to bear witness to that gift by their transfigured lives, as they joyfully make their way with all their brothers and sisters towards our heavenly homeland and the light which will never grow dim” (John Paul II, Vita Consecrata, n. 112).