Thursday in the Octave of Christmas, December 29, 2022

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.”

St. Luke knows that his Greek readers are very interested in signs early in life of a great person’s future.  An example of this in Greek mythology is the story of Hercules as an infant strangling two giant snakes sent to kill him.  Luke is therefore very attentive to stories of Jesus as an infant and child which must have been told him by the Virgin Mary who was very much still alive at the time he wrote his Gospel and lived in places he is known to have visited.  In the excerpt from his Gospel used for today’s Mass, we read of the very ordinary event of his parents presenting him, as the first-born, in the Temple.  As distinct from the Greek myths, though, Luke presents clear and natural details that highlight the historicity of this event.  That points up the extraordinary actions of Simeon and Anna.

“This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.”  Simeon is described almost in the same way as Luke had described Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist.  The significant addition here is that “the Holy Spirit was upon” Simeon, whereas he was not upon Zechariah, which led to the latter’s doubts.  Now, we are not told of the Holy Spirit was upon him more or less permanently or for this occasion, but because Christ has not yet died on the Cross and the Spirit has not yet been sent, we can assume that it was for a particular action.  In theological terms, we call this “actual grace”, grace that enables a particular action at a particular time.  It is unlike sanctifying grace in that it does not consist of the sharing of God’s divine life.  “The consolation of Israel” is an interesting choice of words for it would not mean much to the Greeks, but for the Jews would call to mind God’s tender words in Isaiah 40, 1: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned.”  Perhaps this verse was already known by the Greek Christians for whom Luke wrote his Gospel.

“He took him into his arms.”  We ought to think about this for awhile.  A human being very much us took the Creator of all things into his arms, the God who causes our hearts to beat and our lungs to breathe, whose will keeps the universe in existence.  Unlike the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, he possesses no special abiding graces and has undoubtedly committed sins in his life, and yet God permits this man to hold him in his arms, even to take him from his parents.  He even gives this man leave to prophesy about him.  He looks upon the tiny infant wrapped up now in a blanket, but recently wrapped in cold, dirty swaddling clothes, and sees him for who he is: “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.”  Significantly, the Jew, Simeon, recognizes this Savior as for the nations, the Gentiles, as much as for Israel.  Also to be noted, Simeon is not described as a Pharisee or a priest.  He is simply a devout Jew who is acting under the impulse of the Holy Spirit.  It is a sign to the Greeks that the Lord is already not recognized by the very people — the Pharisees and the priests — who should have recognized him.  Why not?  Because the Holy Spirit did not come upon them?  And why did he not?  Because Simeon was “righteous and devout” and was waiting for “the consolation of Israel”, and they were not.  This taught the Greeks that the Holy Spirit will come upon a person of good will and who strives to live the virtuous life, but will not come upon those who pursue their own ends, even if outwardly they seem godly.  It is the interior disposition that matters.

Mary and Joseph “wondered” at this, that an ordinary man and not a festooned Pharisee or priest could speak in such a way.  To Mary, Simeon said, “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.”  Only an ordinary man could speak of “the rise and fall of many in Israel” because, full of faith, he stood to rise, while the Pharisee and the Jewish priests would fall.  The prophecy of the sword that would pierce Mary’s heart is something not spoken of directly in the Prophets.  The Virgin was the only person at that time who could have connected the prophesies about the glory of the Savior with the tribulations of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah, but Simeon would have confirmed this for her.

Let us also live devoutly and righteously so that when the Holy Spirit comes upon us to prompt us to do God’s will, we will do so with eagerness and joy.