A LIGHT FOR ALL THE NATIONS 

December 29, Wednesday

5TH DAY IN THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS

 

God comes to his temple today as if incognito, as a child carried in the arms of its mother. Simeon, the old man in the Temple, took Jesus in his arms and recognized this child as the Savior expected by the Jews in the Old Testament but also as the salvation of all people. In him the old Israel can fade away in peace. This child was to be the glory of Israel, yes, but also the light to enlighten pagans, everyone. He comes to us now not merely to be the light of us Christians. He does not belong to us alone but to all. St John tells us how to reflect the light of Christ: all those who love their neighbor are living in the light.

 

First Reading: 1 John 2:3-11

Here’s how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments.

If someone claims, “I know him well!” but doesn’t keep his commandments, he’s obviously a liar. His life doesn’t match his words. But the one who keeps God’s word is the person in whom we see God’s mature love. This is the only way to be sure we’re in God. Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.

My dear friends, I’m not writing anything new here. This is the oldest commandment in the book, and you’ve known it from day one. It’s always been implicit in the Message you’ve heard. On the other hand, perhaps it is new, freshly minted as it is in both Christ and you—the darkness on its way out and the True Light already blazing!

Anyone who claims to live in God’s light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark. It’s the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in God’s light and doesn’t block the light from others. But whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn’t know which end is up, blinded by the darkness.

 

Gospel: Luke 2:22-35

Then when the days stipulated by Moses for purification were complete, they took him up to Jerusalem to offer him to God as commanded in God’s Law: “Every male who opens the womb shall be a holy offering to God,” and also to sacrifice the “pair of doves or two young pigeons” prescribed in God’s Law.

In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him. The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would see the Messiah of God before he died. Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. As the parents of the child Jesus brought him in to carry out the rituals of the Law, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God:

God, you can now release your servant;
    release me in peace as you promised.
With my own eyes I’ve seen your salvation;
    it’s now out in the open for everyone to see:
A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations,
    and of glory for your people Israel.

Jesus’ father and mother were speechless with surprise at these words. Simeon went on to bless them, and said to Mary his mother,

This child marks both the failure and
    the recovery of many in Israel,
A figure misunderstood and contradicted—
    the pain of a sword-thrust through you—
But the rejection will force honesty,
    as God reveals who they really are.

 

Prayer

God, Father of light,

the old man Simeon recognized your Son

as the light that would shine on all.

May we too recognize Jesus,

even if he comes to us in a humble way,

in the shape and person of children,

of old people, of the poor and the little ones.

Make us receive him too

as the light not only of our lives

but as the bright dawn for all nations.

For you are the Father of all

and Jesus belongs to all as their Savior and Lord,

now and for ever. Amen.

 

Reflection:

We need more ‘Simeons’; Can you be one?

“Now I can die!” This is how the Gospel presents the serene figure of Simeon, in vivid contrast to the tortured Herod, slayer of the Innocents, who got a mention in the Gospel yesterday. Herod’s death became legendary for its awfulness. But Simeon can teach us how to approach death: how not to see death as an enemy, “the prince of terrors,” how not to define it as the destruction of life, but to welcome it as a culmination, a completion. If we have not lived our lives faithfully and fruitfully, we will be terrified of death. If Simeon could approach death so peacefully, he must have lived a deep life: unlike Herod, he must have fought the war within, and come to peace with himself, with others and with God.

“Now, Lord, you can let your servant go in peace.” Simeon’s canticle is a beautiful closing of the day: a lesson on how to end things, how to approach the end of life and how to take one’s leave. He is prepared for a peaceful departure. He spent his entire life in waiting for the consolation of the people of Israel. His waiting reached a blessed end when Jesus entered temple with his parents. He was able to experience the fulfilment of God’s promises because his whole life was in resonance with God’s voice

The story of Simeon teaches that our hopes will be realized someday if not immediately and God will fulfil every one of his promises. But God’s ways do not always correspond our ways. Simeon was waiting for the glorious Messiah of Israel. “My eyes have seen the salvation, which you have made ready in the sight of the nations, a light of revelation for the Gentiles and glory for your people Israel” in a weak defenceless child. Simeon shows us how to end each day, a year and our life itself in peace with God.

Simeon personifies the history of Israel. He represents a people, who in spite of all the conflicts and deviations from faith and God, continued to trust in the new future that God had promised them. He personifies the story of any person in search, with the possibility of welcoming Emmanuel – God-with-us and announcing the novelty of his Kingdom.

We need more elders like Simeon. Also young and middle-aged ‘Simeons’. That from the experience of a life lived in confidence and faith, they transmit that confidence and faith to those who come from behind. Do you believe that you too can be a Simeon?

 

Video available on Youtube: We need more ‘Simeons’; Can you be one?