HOPE GROWS WITH PRAYER AND AGE
After hearing
the Gospel message you might ask: Is my life in tune with the Holy Spirit?
It's easy to sense
in the readings today the grateful hearts of Anna, the prophetess, and Simeon,
who awaited Jesus, "the consolation of Israel." When we look at this
great feast of the Holy Family during the octave of Christmas, we continue to
return to the idea of God coming to us with a message of great freedom and
great hope. During this time of Christmas, we experience a deep feeling of
gratitude because something marvelous has been given to us. It's clear there
isn't any way to understand the full impact of the salvation story without the
help of God's Holy Spirit and us taking the time to pray and reflect on this
great gift of the Incarnation.
After hearing the
Gospel message you might ask: Is my life in tune with the Holy Spirit? Simeon
was a man who was just towards others and devout towards God. He gladly
accepted the mission God called him to perform with much fervent prayer and
with patient expectation. His whole life was in tune with the Holy Spirit. His
was found daily in the temple in prayer and worship and in humble and faithful
expectation for the day that the Lord would comfort His people.
As the days and
months grew into years he never lost hope. When Joseph and Mary presented the
Child Jesus in the temple, Simeon immediately recognized the Lord's presence in
His temple. Through the eyes of faith he told the Infant Jesus that He was the
fulfillment of all prophecies, hopes, and prayers of the people of Israel.
Inspired by the Holy Spirit he prophesied that Jesus was to be "a revealing
light to the Gentiles." Jesus came not only as "light and
salvation" for the people of Israel, but for all the nations - all of us!
Through Jesus' coming in the flesh and through His saving Death, Resurrection
and Ascension, we are made living temples of His Holy Spirit" (1Cor 3:16).
Simeon blessed Mary
and Joseph and he prophesied to Mary about the destiny of this child and the
suffering she would undergo for His sake. There is a certain paradox for those
blessed by God. Mary was given the blessedness of being the mother of the Son
of God. That blessedness also would become a sword that would pierce her heart
as her Son died upon the Cross. She received both joy and sorrow. In our own
lives we also face both joy and sorrow on the journey we must take on this
earth. But Mary's joy was not diminished by her sorrow because it was fueled by
her faith and hope in God.
What do you hope
for in your life? Hope grows with prayer and age. Anna was pre-eminently a
woman of great hope and expectation, trusting that God would fulfill all His
promises. Filled with the Holy Spirit, she was found daily in the house of the
Lord, attending to the Father's business in prayer and speaking to others about
His promise to send a redeemer. She is a model to all believers as we advance
in age.
How do we grow in
hope? By placing our trust in the promises of Jesus Christ and relying not on
our own strength, but on the grace and help of the Holy Spirit.