Friday in the Octave of Christmas, December 29, 2023

Luke 2, 22-35

When the days were completed for their purification according to the Law of Moses, the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the Law of the Lord, Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord, and to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: “Lord, now let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled: my own eyes have seen the salvation which you prepared in the sight of every people, a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.”  The child’s father and Mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his Mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted and you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

This Reading from the Gospel according to St. Luke recalls the events that took place several days after the Birth of the Lord in Bethlehem, and which the Holy Church commemorates forty days afterwards on February 2.  

Following the Birth of Jesus, it seemed reasonable to Joseph and Mary to remain in Bethlehem until the time to present their first-born Son in the Temple according to the Law.  Jerusalem lay within easy reach of the town.  By this time, Joseph and Mary seem to have gotten a regular place to stay.  St. Matthew mentions a “house” (Matthew 2, 11).  Mary’s purification took place seven days after the Birth of her Son, as according to Leviticus 12, 2, but she was prohibited from touching any sanctified thing or enter the Temple until for a further thirty-three days.  It was at that time that the Holy Family went to Jerusalem.

Before the sacrifice connected with the Infant’s Presentation to his Father could be performed in the Temple, an elderly man who had been watching them approached.  He was Simeon: “This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.”  That is, the Holy Spirit prompted him to come to the Temple at this time, acting in the way the star drew the magi to Bethlehem.  We should notice that he is not a priest nor an elder.  Simeon practiced his religion quietly and devoutly.  Luke represents him as a tie to the Prophets of old who proclaimed the coming of a Savior.  Standing in for them, as it were, Simeon recognizes the long awaited One, takes him in his arms, and blesses God: “Lord, now let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled: my own eyes have seen the salvation which you prepared in the sight of every people, a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.”  As if to say, Lord, the Age of the Prophets is now complete and the images in which they spoke are fulfilled by the reality which has arrived.  The ancient sighs of the Prophets are now turned into songs of thanksgiving.

“The child’s father and Mother were amazed at what was said about him.”  The shepherds, the magi, and now the righteous Simeon act as signs of Almighty God’s presence and approval of what Joseph and Mary had done.  We should very much keep in mind that several months had passed since angels had spoken briefly to them about what God wanted them to do.  Since that time they had had no visions, no dreams, no divine signs to direct them further.  They must have wondered if their care of his Child was pleasing to him so far.  Simeon’s arrival and words “amazed” them because they were unexpected and also confirmed what the Angel Gabriel had said to the Virgin Mary and what Joseph had heard in his dream.  

“Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”  The Virgin Mary receives new  information from God through Simeon.  And she knows that she can trust what he says to her because he had confirmed what Gabriel had said to her.  So what does he tell her?  That when this Child was grown, he would put down the mighty from their thrones and exalt the lowly; he would filled the hungry with good things, and send the rich away empty (cf. Luke 1, 52-53).  He would be a sign that would be contradicted: “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1, 15) who would be harried, harassed, and persecuted by the very people who should have recognized him.  “And you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”  Entering into her Son’s sufferings in a way only she could and suffering in him, she knew how much he loved the human race and what he would not do for it. This enabled her to become our great intercessor.  The sword of her suffering which was his suffering is so grievous that to hear of it should move all souls to repentance.  It has already moved very many souls to confess their sins.  To see her unspeakable sorrow is to know what sin did to her Son.