Gospel for Sunday, February 02: Presentation of the Lord C: Luke 2:22-40
PRESENTATION OF THE LORD
“22 When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought the child to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, 23 as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to the Lord’; 24 and to offer the sacrifice spoken of in the law of the Lord, of a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. 25 There was in Jerusalem a man named Simeon; this man was righteous and God-fearing, and waited for the consolation of Israel; the Holy Spirit was upon him; 26 and it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he saw the Lord’s Christ. 27 He, moved by the Spirit, went into the temple; and as the parents brought the child Jesus there to fulfill the requirements of the law concerning him, 28 he took him in his arms, and blessed God, saying, 29 “Now, O my Lord, you let your servant go in peace
according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared before all peoples 32 to be a light to enlighten the nations and the glory of your people Israel.”
33 Jesus’ father and mother were amazed at the things that were being said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them, saying to Mary his mother, “Behold, he is set to fall and to raise up many in Israel, as a sign of contradiction 35 (and to you yourself a sword will pierce your soul), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
36 There was also Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Fanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was far advanced in years: after living with her husband seven years from her virginity, she had been widowed and had reached the age of eighty-four. 37 She never left the temple and served God night and day with fasting and prayer. 38 Arriving at that same hour, she also praised God and spoke of the child to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. 39 As they had fulfilled all the requirements of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to Nazareth, their city. 40 And the child grew and was strengthened; he was full of wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.”Lk 2:22-40
Dear sisters and brothers of Misericordia, I am Carlo Miglietta, a doctor, biblical scholar, layman, husband, father and grandfather (www.buonabibbiaatutti.it). Also today I share with you a short thought meditation on the Gospel, with special reference to the theme of mercy.
We must dwell today on the figures of Simeon and Anna, because the New Testament proposes them precisely as models of the elderly believer.
“And behold in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon”: the text begins with the ‘And behold’ (idoù) that often in Luke’s Gospel introduces a revelation, an extraordinary intervention by God.
The name Simeon calls to listening: Sim’on in Hebrew means “He who listens.” Simeon is a man of listening, steeping himself in meditation on Holy Scripture, which he recalls twice: “All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” (Is 52:10), and, “I will make you the light of the Gentiles that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” (Is 49:6). He is a man adept at reading the Bible, which he knows how to actualize in his own life, understanding that he himself is tasting the Lord’s salvation in the fragile flesh of that newborn presented in the Temple.
He is a man inhabited by the Holy Spirit: three times the action of the Spirit is spoken of him: “The Holy Spirit was upon him” (Lk 2:25); “The Holy Spirit had foretold him that he would not see death before he saw the Messiah” (Lk 2:26); “Moved therefore by the Spirit he went to the Temple” (Lk 2:27). Simeon is a man who delved into Scripture, and thus was filled with the Holy Spirit, and became a prophet.
He is a man who even in old age continues to hope, to wait: “He was waiting for the consolation of Israel” (Lk 2:25). “Let us ask ourselves if there is within us the waiting for salvation, the desire to see the glory of his people and the light of the Gentiles” (C. M. Martini1).
Simeon is not a man enclosed within himself, bent on his past: he is open to the future. He is capable of wonder, of amazement. He is not a man tired and embittered by life, jealous of the past, distrustful, fearful: he is a person open to the new, capable of dreaming, projected into the future. “It is not easy for the old man in us to welcome the child, the new…Old Simeon embracing a child…represents each of us in the face of God’s newness. Will this newness really enter our lives or will we rather try to put together old and new trying to let ourselves be disturbed as little as possible by the presence of God’s newness?”(C. M. Martini2).
Simeon is also a welcoming man, capable of tenderness, gently taking that little child into his arms. He is yes a weak man, but his weakness, thanks to his spiritual maturation, has become meekness and humility. “Simeon says, “My eyes have seen your salvation” (Luke 2:30). He sees the Child and he sees salvation. He does not see the Messiah performing wonders, but a little baby. He does not see something extraordinary, but Jesus with his parents, who bring to the temple two turtle doves or two pigeons, that is, the most humble offering3. Simeon sees the simplicity of God and welcomes his presence. He does not seek more, does not ask or want more, it is enough for him to see the Child and take him in his arms, “Nunc dimittis, now you can let me go” (Luke 2:29). God as he is is enough for him. In Him he finds the ultimate meaning of life” (Pope Francis4).
“Mary brings the Expected One and places him in the arms of the elderly Simeon. The gift is reciprocal: She gives the Promise and fills the heart of the Watchman, consoles him from the long wait, from that heap of suffering that every Israelite heart bears to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. He blesses the Lord, the Child and the Mother with that blessing with which God blessed Abraham and in his name all his descendants. An ancient liturgical antiphon of the Feast of the Presentation in the Temple sings, “The old man carried the Child, but the Child directed the old man.” The meeting of generations finds its full realization in this mutual service. Gift, affection, help do not come only from one side, as neither do the future, strength, life belong to one generation. The Child gave meaning to Simeon’s long life already lived and a light on what awaited him, a direction, a purpose; He enlightened him by making him deeply understand what throughout his life he had received: the hope of seeing the Messiah. At the same time before a child Simeon had to change the gaze of his expectation: the Messiah did not present himself as Israel had expected him, a powerful liberator. He was a fragile creature who could be laid on his arms, who leaned on him, who almost depended on him, on his attention and care… Mary and Joseph were not passive spectators. In the grandparent-grandchild relationship, parents play a great role. They too carry and are guided” (C. Faletti5).
Simeon above all is a praying man. Although he feels close to death, he is not a man who regrets to God the present decay, but is capable of thanksgiving, praise, and blessing. Luke puts on his lips a wonderful hymn, the “Nunc dimittis.” On closer inspection, Simeon is not asking for something, “Now let”: in fact, the verb àpolùeis means, “Now you are loosening my bonds.” Simeon affirms that the Lord has made him touch the pinnacle of fullness in the contemplation of that child in his arms, and thus “he is loosing his servant”: àpolùeis is the verb for release, to loosen, and apolutròsis is redemption, redemption, salvation.6 The experience of God that he has in that newborn child is for him liberation toward peace, it is the fullness and fulfillment of his life.
“Now”: ”Now, now, in this moment. What we now experience is the starting point of all our prayer… Now, now, in this moment, God wants to manifest himself in our lives, in spite of everything, precisely through the obscurities that furrow our experience” (C. M. Martini7).
And precisely because Simeon is experiencing in totality the coming God, the “Nunc dimittis” is also the prayer of an old man serenely preparing to die. Simeon openly challenges the taboos of modern man, who rejects the concept of aging and tries to remove the thought of death. Simeon turns to the Lord whom he calls “Master” of his life, in Greek despòtes. And he recognizes that he has lived a full life, in which he has been able to experience to the full the power of God. Then he becomes aware that the Lord is giving him permission to be able to depart, to leave his service to God, to enter into well-deserved eternal rest: àpolùeis also means to dismiss, to discharge, to exempt from a service. Simeon does not shy away from death, but places it in continuity with his whole life, aware that even death will be a moment of further revelation of the God he has always sought and loved and who has accompanied him since his birth. He has always trusted God, and he trusts him even at this extreme moment: “according to your Word (katà to rèma tou)” (Lk 2:29). As Jesus will do in his great “yes” on the cross: “Now Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Lk 23:46).
Simeon then, defined by Scripture as a “righteous man” (Lk 2:25), that is, in deep intimacy with God, and “God-fearing” (Lk 2:25), that is, humble before the Creator, is the perfect example of the kalògheros, the “Calogero” of the Eastern tradition, that is, the elderly kalos, beautiful, fully realized by the life of Faith and obedient discipleship.
Anna, too, is an example of aging according to God. It is no accident that Luke says of her, “Anna, daughter of Fanuel, of the tribe of Asher” (Luke 2:36). Already encapsulated in these three person names is the story of this woman: for Anna in Hebrew means “favor,” “grace,” Fanuel means “face of God,” “vision of God,” or even “who sees God,” Aser means “happy,” “blessed,” ”blessed.” For Anna is “graced” and has the joy of “seeing God” in the newborn presented in the Temple, and thus becomes truly “blessed.” “She was eighty-four years old” (Lk 2:37), which is seven, indicating perfection, times twelve, expressing a complete temporal cycle: she has truly come to the fullness of her existence.
Anna is one of the ‘anawìm, of God’s “poor,” because widowhood, at a time when there were no survivor’s pensions or other social cushions, was a condition often of misery, of lack of protection, of great weakness. But Anna had taken refuge in the Lord, and had entrusted her existence to him: all her life she had remained in the Temple praying and fasting. And so he had become a prophetess, that is, a woman capable of grasping the signs of God in the present.
Anna, too, is a “beautiful” elder, for she knows how to live life “never departing from the Temple” (Lk. 2:37), that is, in the presence of the Lord, fulfilling what Psalm 91 proclaims: “The righteous shall flourish as a palm tree, grow as a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the atria of our God. In their old age they shall yet bear fruit, they shall be vigorous and flourishing, to proclaim how righteous is the Lord: my rock, in him there is no unrighteousness” (Ps 91:13-16).
And she begins to “speak of the child to those who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Lk 2:38): as an old woman, she is even more an evangelizer, a missionary, a prophetess. Anna thus became Jesus’ first preacher, the first Apostle.
Happy Mercy to all!
Anyone who would like to read a more complete exegesis of the text, or some insights, please ask me at migliettacarlo@gmail.com.