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From the Associate…
SIMEON AND ANNA
The coming of Christ into the world was not an easy process. Light invading darkness. Life attacking the citadel of death. Creator coming to redeem his creation. No surprise that his arrival caused something of a stir. A star to mark his birth, kings come to worship, angels appearing to shepherds. And then, shortly after his birth, hidden in a stable, away from the eyes of the great and the powerful, the command came to Joseph: "Up and flee, the enemies of the child are seeking to kill him." Hardly had he come into the world than the powers of the world were after him. The death of the holy innocents, those children who were associated to Christ only by the proximity of the time of their birth, was a foreshadowing of what was to come, the great battle between the powers of heaven and the powers of darkness. Christ came to rob the devil of his captives and to break apart the prison that held humanity in thrall. And the prince of darkness was not slow to retaliate, in fury, to this despoiler of his kingdom.
Today we celebrate the feast of the Presentation, when Mary and Joseph, in accordance with the law of God, presented their firstborn son in the Temple. And again, Jesus did not get through the process without making something of a splash. Anna, a mystic, a woman rapt in decades of prayer that had given her a piercing vision into the invisible, recognized the child as the hope of Israel, the Coming One. And Simeon the prophet, waiting patiently for the Messiah, promised by God that he would have a glimpse of him, announces in his beautiful prayer that God's promise has been fulfilled and he may now be taken to his rest. This is the "Nunc Dimittis," the Canticle of Simeon still prayed by the whole Church every evening at Night Prayer.
And what does he say, this Simeon, this prophet, about the little newborn in a young mother's arms? "This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel. He will be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed." So it was then, so it is now. Christ is life, light, and hope, the face of God among us. As such he is beloved beyond any other human who has ever lived. And as such he is hated beyond any other human who has ever lived. The light of his presence lays our hearts bare, opens the secrets of our minds, and we rise or we fall, depending on what is found written there. But one thing is certain: in the presence of Christ, none remained unchanged. None simply stand as they were. Either embrace him and rise to a height beyond imagining, or follow King Herod and seek to kill this Christ, and fall to a dark and hopeless depth. This is the drama of humanity, the choice before each of us, the adventure that envelops us.
We should not be surprised, then, that Christ is both loved and opposed in this world. It was promised that he would be. It was also promised that he would remain with us to the very end of the world. "Rejoice and be glad," Jesus said and still says to us, "it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
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