Fra Bartolomeo
"Light for revelation to the Gentiles"
Luke 2: 22-40
The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020225.cfm
In our lives as priests we know that spontaneous events
will inevitably happen. Regarding
funerals for example or calls to visit the sick and in some cases, the dying,
there is no timeline or monthly quota.
People don’t die in alphabetical order nor only on certain days of the
week.
One reliable, though, is when visiting those in a terminal illness or perhaps on the last journey under hospice care, is that often near death, despite what might seem like a non-communicative state, we hold out for someone or some reason before surrendering to the inevitable end. Although rare, I have been with some folks who the family tells me have said nothing for a week. They seem to simply lie there, sleep, and are completely non-verbal.
However, if they were devout or regularly practicing Catholics and are told the priest is coming, they seem to hold out knowing that these “last rites” will bring them some peace and reassurance of God’s mercy.
So, the priest comes to anoint with the blessed oil, pray for God’s mercy, absolves their sin and then begins to pray the Lord’s prayer when the person who has been so silent suddenly begins to pray along! It is rare but I have seen it. Finally, someone, the priest or family member, tells them not be afraid to go to the Lord; gives them permission to let go and so they do so not long afterwards. That final chapter of one’s life is often, through the compassion of Hospice workers, a peaceful one. The dying let go since their final hope was fulfilled.
In the beautiful Gospel story this Sunday when Mary and Joseph who, as devout Jews, follow the prescriptions of the Mosaic Law about purification and the first-born Son, find themselves amazed by what transpires.
Waiting near this scene with expectation are two elderly figures: Simeon and Anna. They pray constantly, they never let go of hope, they are holding on for that moment when they will see the hope of Israel with their own eyes. Suddenly, Simeon, takes the child Jesus from Mary’s arms, with permission I suppose, and proclaims: “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace. . . for my eyes have seen your salvation . . . a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.”
In a hope fulfilled, Simeon was inspired by the Spirit that the child Jesus in the arms of Mary was THE ONE who Israel longed for and he was privileged to now see him in the flesh. That hope fulfilled; he can now leave this world in peace. God gave him and Anna not only a great gift but also permission to now let go. And so, they let go in peace.
The point for us then, is to know that our God, always present to us, is a God of faithfulness to his promises. Do we long for the Lord to come to our “temple?” Into our hearts and lives not only in name but in fact? Do we live life in search of God or simply live our lives apart from him?
The whole spiritual life is a longing to encounter Christ. We should long to find him in the daily moments of our life no matter how routine or mundane they may seem. God came to this world as a baby not as a mighty King. And who doesn’t love a baby and are somehow moved to approach that child. We have no fear of a child only may long to love him, to smile and to enjoy his innocence. God came in that way that so we would not fear him but be open to his love and approach him with confidence.
On this Feast of the Presentation, it would be good for us to check our longing for Christ. Can we believe that if my life ends with no real sense of his presence and to admit that I have never felt an encounter with the Lord, then my life has not been fulfilled in the best way.
If it isn’t God that I ultimately long for, what is it? The beautiful surrender of Simeon is touching:
Now, Master you may let your
servant go in peace,
According to your word,
for my eyes have seen
Your salvation, which you
prepared in the sight
Of all the peoples: a light
of revelation to the
Gentiles, and glory for
your people
Israel
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