Simeon - taking God in his arms!
Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple Mass today begins with these beautiful words of prayer: Dear brothers and sisters, forty days have passed since we celebrated the joyful feast of the Nativity of the Lord. Today is the blessed day when Jesus was presented in the Temple by Mary and Joseph. Outwardly he was fulfilling the Law, but in reality he was coming to meet his believing people. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, Simeon and Anna came to the Temple. Enlightened by the same Spirit, they recognised the Lord and confessed him with exultation. So let us also, gathered together by the Holy Spirit, proceed to the house of God to encounter Christ. There we shall find and recognise him in the breaking of the bread, until he comes again, revealed in glory. Today’s Gospel (Luke 2:22-42) tells of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple and recounts the reactions of an older man and woman, Simeon and Anna, to this baby, Jesus. I love to pray the Canticle of Simeon