Word to the Wise
Wednesday, December 29, 2021 - Dec. 29 - 5th Day in the Octave of Christmas
[1 John 2:3-11 and Luke 2:22-35]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." [Luke] The way we may be sure that we know Jesus is to keep his commandments. Whoever says, "I know him," but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him. This is the way we may know that we are in union with him: whoever claims to abide in him ought to walk just as he walked. [1 John]
The gospel scripture today presents the scene which our tradition calls "the Presentation of the Lord," which is celebrated liturgically in February. The story begins as a presentation first of Jesus' parents as pious Jews, simply doing what the Law of Moses requires, but they get more than they bargained for in the encounter with Simeon and Anna. These two figures represent the kind of people who accepted Jesus as the fulfillment of all the hopes of Israel. This recognition is beautifully expressed in the "canticle of Simeon" (the "Nunc dimittis"), which is celebrated every evening at Compline, the last of the liturgical hours. But Simeon goes on with the words about Jesus' fate as a "sign to be contradicted." The parenthesis mentioning Mary's fate is a reference to her being tested just as all other disciples would be tested. Her parental relationship to Jesus would be no guarantee any more than the other "relatives" of Jesus. She would pass the test and be among those gathered at Pentecost. The criteria of discipleship is clearly presented in the first scripture for today from 1 John, quoted above.
The "infancy narratives" in the gospels according to Matthew and Luke were written with the rest of the story in mind, so many of the figures are symbolic of what would occur in Jesus' life, death and resurrection. The broad vision of today's scene with Simeon's beautiful canticle helps us to understand the whole Gospel According to Luke. AMEN