Thought for the week - 1 February 2026

OK, yes I know that Christmas is ‘sooo last year’, but when do you normally take your Christmas decorations down? Is it as soon as possible on St Stephen’s/Boxing Day? Do you stick with them until just after New Year? Maybe they sparkle until Epiphany, or………do they remain, pristine and glitzy until Candlemas? If so, you are being way more traditional than most, and in keeping with the Medieval calendar.

For those traditionalists, Candlemas was the final deadline to take down Christmas decorations, otherwise, I was always told that any Christmas baubles or whatever that remained after this time had to remain for the entire year, otherwise bad luck would pervade!! And by Candlemas the Christmas season is officially over, even though we’ve largely been in liturgical green since just after Epiphany. Now the focus can begin to rest on the upcoming season of Lent. And that will be upon us before we know it this year!

Candlemas commemorates the presentation of Christ in the Temple as well as the purification of Mary, 40 days after giving birth, as per the requirements of the Mosaic law. At this Temple visit, the aged Simeon proclaims the baby in Mary’s arms the ‘light to enlighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of Thy people Israel.’ This imagery of light has become central to the festival of Candlemas. However, Simeon goes on to say that the child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel…there will be His opposers as well as His followers. There can be no neutrality because Jesus is the light that no-one can ignore, the light that reveals their innermost thoughts forcing everyone to either be for Him or against Him. As was the case while Jesus walked the earth, leading to a pivotal part of God’s salvational plan, so it remains today. Families are still divided where some are followers of Christ and some are not. Division still exists and will do so until He who is seated on the Throne will make all things new. But, as Christians, we have hope. Candles, which play a pivotal role in the observance of Candlemas, signify Christ as the light of the world, giving light, and hope, to those who dwell in darkness and guiding our steps into the way of peace.

At Candlemas, churches bless the various candles, as well as other items such as eucharistic hosts and various other consumables which will be used over the course of this liturgical year. Candles, which were lit during the dark days of winter, served as a poignant reminder of hope and guidance. The joyful festivities of Christmas are now in the past; we are moving towards the dark days of Christ’s passion. ‘These are the dark times. But they don't sustain. Darkness never sustains even though sometimes it feels like it might.’ (Jodie Whittaker, Thirteenth Doctor in Spyfall – Part 2.) The small flickering flame of a candle, which no darkness can ever suppress, reminds us that Christ is with us, as He reassures us at the very end of Matthew’s gospel: And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.

I feel compelled to refer to the ‘L’ word that Fr Andrew mentions such a lot in his homilies. At the presentation there will have been such love in Mary and Joseph as they brought Jesus to the Temple; such love in Simeon as he recognised that finally he had seen the promised Messiah and could now die in peace. Such love in the, I reckon, feisty Anna who just happened

to be passing at the exact time when the Holy Family visited the temple, as she, Anna, proclaimed Jesus to all who would listen. ‘Love, in all its forms, is the most powerful weapon we have. Because love is a form of hope, and like hope, love abides in the face of everything.’ (Jodie Whittaker again, this time in Demons of the Punjab.)

I have to confess that I am not sure how widely Candlemas is observed nowadays; I suspect that its prominence has waned somewhat in some modern contexts. But it does remain a day of quiet beauty and reflection in the liturgical calendar. It’s almost like a slow, gentle awakening from the dark of winter, a welcoming for the coming spring when new growth will emerge. A gentle flickering glow to remind us of the cyclical nature of God’s seasons. And that Jesus Christ is with us, yesterday, today and for all our tomorrows. Amen.