Simeon - taking God in his arms!

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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 each night in Compline. 

I love it all the more since I first took notice of Luke's description of Simeon’s actions in today's Gospel: 


he took him into his arms and blessed God


Imagine this old and devout man holding our Lord in his arms ... the most natural and human a response to a baby ... 

And in that moment, Simeon knows that - in this small, seemingly insignificant baby boy - he has seen what he was waiting for and longing for, what Israel has been waiting for and longing for, what was long promised. 

And so, he bursts into prayer. 

Just imagine it ... 


Tom Bouwer - Grandfather 
https://flic.kr/p/7Vx9Mc


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