By Sr. Doreen, SSJD
“This Child is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed – and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” (Luke2:34)
On this feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the temple, what became a meditation for me was a beautiful image: two young parents (Mary and Joseph) and two elderly people (Simeon and Anna), brought together in a very tender moment by the child Jesus. This is a Feast Day, it seems to me, that brings together and unites all people across generations and ways of life! It is also a celebration of our own presentation – a feast day in which we present ourselves to be totally given to God and to each other.
It is a feast day in which we see the outward sign of that inexhaustible love which overcomes every occasion of self-absorption, solitude, and sadness. In our journey as a family, as a community, and as the whole of the world and creation we share so many beautiful moments: meals, rest, housework, leisure, joys and sorrows, prayer, trips and pilgrimages, and times of mutual support… all of this is part of Mary and Joseph’s gift of ordinariness in the presentation of Jesus in the temple. Along with Jesus, they bring all their memories, both the lovely and the difficult ones, and offer all of this, their incredible ordinariness, when they present Jesus to God in the temple. And it is also our gift as we today in particular present ourselves, our incredible ordinariness in the temple. It is surely an action that is a daily one for each one of us – not just once on this particular day. Ordinariness – as the exchange between the Mole and the Boy in Charlie Mackesy’s book (The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse) so aptly puts it: “I am so small,” said the Mole. “Yes.” Said the Boy. “But you make a huge difference.” They go on to talk together: “Sometimes I worry you’ll realize I’m ordinary.” Said the boy. “Love doesn’t need you to be extraordinary,” said the Mole.
This is the day when we are shown clearly that joy and sorrow are intricately joined together. Simeon dances for joy when he takes the young child Jesus in his arms and holds Jesus up with the proclamation ‘the light of the world’; and Simon also prophesizes that Jesus life would be a contradiction, a sign that will be opposed, and that a sword will pierce not just Jesus, but Mary also.
I thought about Simeon, how we all have our own Simeon prophesizes – a kind of Simeon announcement, Simeon moments, when in the midst of life that is going reasonably well, we receive news that is shattering, be it health, unemployment, news of a loved one’s death, the birth of a child with mental and / or physical challenges, the breaking apart of a relationship, a financial crisis, homelessness. So often in the midst of dealing with the anguish this causes, we realize how fragile we are, how vulnerable our life can be. As we work through the fear, the anger, the sadness and the emptiness, there comes a space when we realize also that the bad news also draws our attention to the good things we have overlooked. It is at times like this, our own Simeon moments, that we become aware of the goodness that we have in many facets of our life. We also experience, through them, a deep inner growth and an undercurrent of meaningful discovery and joy. Our Simeon moments are part of life. In the struggle with our Simeon moments, we begin to long for the goodness and the light. Inevitably in our longing, messages like invitations come to us: to live each day with gratitude, and to live each day fully.
And I thought about Anna, how we all need our own Anna’s in our life, someone with life experience that has been there before, who becomes an ‘anam cara’, a soul friend, someone with a fuller understanding of life. In the story of the Presentation of Jesus in the temple, Anna comes at “just the right moment”- a source of strength and a sign of hope. Her presence brought with it an assurance that everything would be okay. I know that my own Anna’s come when I most need them! Sometimes a phone call, a letter, a compassionate visit … they are hope-filled people, that bring hope, awaken hope, with a hope born of experience and lived wisdom. Anna’s joy as she spoke to people of the child Jesus, of the hope and the promise – she spread it all around to everyone she met!
Anna was pre-eminently a woman of great hope and expectation. She knew that God would fulfill all promises that had been made. She is a model of godliness for all of us believers as we advance in age. Advancing age and the disappointments of life can easily make us cynical and hopeless if we do not have our hope placed rightly. Anna’s hope was in God and God’s promises, and that hope grew with age. She never ceased to worship God in faith and to pray with hope. Her hope and faith in God’s promises fueled her strong zeal and joy and fervor in prayer, in life, and in the service of God’s people.
Yes, we need our Anna’s in our lives. Yes, we will have our Simeon moments in our lives. Musing on the Feast of the Presentation I can see how the circle of life invites us to grow in hope by placing our trust in the promises of God, of reaching out to our soul friends, by not rely solely on our own strength alone but on silent prayerful waiting on the grace and help of God and of each other.
Mary received both a crown of joy and a cross of sorrow. But her joy was not diminished by her sorrow because it was fueled by her faith, hope, and trust in God and God’s promises, and the companionship of soul friends surrounding her. Today is a day when in our own presentation we too receive both a crown of joy and a cross of sorrow: life in all its fullness. It is a promise that for us also, our joy cannot be diminished by our sorrow because it can be fueled by our faith, hope, and trust in God and God’s promises, and with the companionship of soul friends surrounding us.
