Celebrating light and love

My weekly readings on line from the Greek New Testament with Dr. Roberto Bustamante and seminarians from Concordia El Reformador Seminary in the Dominican Republic are now synchronized with the appointed Gospel texts for the following Sunday. I find this very helpful. 

For the last week in January we read Luke 2:22-32. This is part of Luke’s last story of Jesus as a baby. Chronologically it took place before the visit of the Magi and the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt, all of which is recounted in Matthew’s Gospel, but not by Luke. Forty days after the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary took Him to the Temple of Jerusalem to fulfill two requirements of the Old Testament ceremonial law: Mary’s ritual purification after childbirth (Leviticus 12:1-8) and the redemption of Mary’s firstborn son from service in the Temple (Exodus 13:1-2; 11-16; Numbers 18:15-16). As the epistle reading (Hebrews 2:14-18) emphasizes, Jesus was born not simply as true man, but also as a descendant of Abraham. Even as an infant, he lived a life of perfect obedience to the moral law (10 Commandments), but also to all the ceremonial laws established by Moses. 

But that’s not all. The Gospel lesson also includes the story of Simeon. Guided by the Holy Spirit, Simeon finds the Christ Child among all the children that must have been present in the Temple that day. The words of his blessing are the Nunc Dimittis (“Lord, now let your servant depart in peace according to your word...”), which we sing every Sunday after receiving the Lord’s Supper. Here are the key words for this day: “For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all people; A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” This is followed by the account of Anna the prophetess (Lucas 2:33-40), but that may be read separately on the first Sunday after December 25, because it’s thematically a little different.

The Feast of the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Our Lord is a mouthful for a minor festival. Because of the focus on Christ as the Light of the world, this festival is often known simply as Candlemas in English-speaking countries and Candelaria in Latin America. Unfortunately, here the celebration of Candelaria often involves the unacceptable veneration of the Virgin Mary. Scripturally compatible traditions include candlelight processions and the blessing of candles to be used in the church in the upcoming year. We had already made new candles from last year’s used-up candles for distribution to children on Epiphany Sunday, so we did not do anything special with candles on February 2. However, we did follow another associated tradition of leaving up the Christmas decorations, then removing them by this date Another theme for the day is that fertility is a blessing from God and all children really belong to Him, which is emphasized in the Old Testament lesson, 1 Samuel 1:21-28. So we gave thanks for the birth of Brianna Gisell, grandchild of Mairelys Pereira, who had been one of our preschool teachers. We presented her daughter with infant clothes that had been sent to us by Yepci Santana, Luz Maria’s daughter, who is an active member of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod mission in Lima, Peru.  

Afterschool program, Bible study grows 

 Since our preschool was shut down, we have been working to expand our afterschool tutoring program and Sunday afternoon youth Bible study. We have met with some success and there is, in fact, some overlap between the two groups, with some of our new afterschool students attending the Bible study. Luz Maria has enlisted her granddaughter, Anyi Garrido, and Yusmelvis Salas, another young lady from the neighborhood, to help her with the afterschool classes. 

The Sunday youth group continues learning to "sing" in sign language. There are 1.2 million deaf people in Venezuela, with an estimated 15,000 congenitally deaf people. There were over 3,000 deaf children in the national public school system in 2004. Sunday afternoons are devoted entirely to prayer and Bible study. Afterschool classes include remedial language skills, mathematics and other subjects as well daily Bible reading and prayer. Many of our students have basic learning disabilities as well as having to deal with a shortage of teachers and the legacy of two years of closed schools due to the COVID-19 crisis.