My eyes have seen salvation

Good morning, happy Tuesday, and many blessings.

Have you ever heard of the old saying, “Good things come to those who wait”? If so, the story of Simeon, Anna and the baby Jesus in the temple in Luke 2:22-40 is a good example. The coming of Christ involved all manner of waiting on God. A young maiden, a dying man and an old widow all model hearts yielded to God.

The tale of Simeon and Anna is a tale of grace. Anna’s name means “grace”, an early reminder by Luke that his gospel is a story of God’s free gift of self to us through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Simeon and Anna are recognized and graced by God. That is why the aged Simeon, over a long period of waiting and from the numerous children brought to the temple recognized God’s salvation in Christ.

At the Presentation in the Temple, Mary and Joseph made ‘the Offering of the Poor’ – two pigeons instead of the lamb which was the offering of the better-off. They met Simeon, one of ‘the Quiet in the Land’ Jews who awaited God’s coming to his people in a spirit of prayer and quiet watchfulness, rather than the expectation of a triumphant warlord. In my prayer I join Mary in listening to Simeon’s lovely but loaded message.

Simeon and Anna are symbolic and representative figures. The world has never been without people like them, people with a forward look in whom there burned a great hope, people on tiptoe, the flame of freedom in their souls, the light of knowledge in their eyes, living in hope and expectation that a great day was coming when wrong would be righted, when justice would be done, when God would reveal his arm and bring salvation to mankind. One night over two thousand years ago, the Word became flesh in a baby born in Bethlehem.

The Temple is itself God’s dwelling-place among his people, and Simeon and Anna belong to the faithful remnant of menfolk and womenfolk, God’s own privileged poor. Anna has been ‘praying and fasting’ – that regime whose power over evil Jesus himself will one day endorse. God’s people have long been praying in expectation of the Messiah – described in this text as the consolation of Israel and its glory; the redemption of Jerusalem; the light to the Gentiles.

Simeon’s prayer is repeated daily in the Night Prayer of the church. Today I make his words my own when he says: my eyes have seen salvation.  Can I make it my own and accept the prospect of my own death, however it may come, whether quietly or suddenly?

When our dreams don’t come true in a day, we, like Simeon and Anna, need to keep in mind that God is still at work. He is still wrapping the package. He is still preparing the gift to fit our needs. We need to pray, not just for the gift, but also for patience to wait for God’s unveiling. As we practice faith, hope, attentiveness, submission and patience, we see the Christ child.

Blessings,

Fr. Luis+