The Stranger Simeon. Fr. Louis Harris. February 2, 2025.

In the propers this week, we are invited to reflect on the Feast of the Presentation and Purification, where an ordinary ritual becomes a moment of revelation. Simeon’s prophecy shifts the focus from celebration to transformation—Jesus will be opposed, Mary will suffer, and hearts will be laid bare. This marks our turn from Christmas to Lent: not just beholding God’s work, but responding to it. True transformation begins with honest self-presentation and a desire for deep purification. Through confession, repentance, and the Eucharist, God offers Himself so that we, too, might be changed.