＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Malachi 3:1-4

 

Ps 24:7, 8, 9, 10

Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!

 

＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

Hebrews 2:14-18

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Luke 2:22-40 (or Luke 2:22-32)

 When the day came for the purification

According to the law of Moses, they brought the baby up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord: Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to God. And they offered a sacrifice as ordered in the law of the Lord: a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.

 There lived in Jerusalem at this time a very upright and devout man named Simeon; the Holy Spirit was in him. He looked forward to the time when the Lord would comfort Israel, and he had been assured by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before seeing the Messiah of the Lord.

 So he was led into the Temple by the Holy Spirit at the time the parents brought the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law.  Simeon took the child in his arms and blessed God, saying,  “Now, O Lord, you can dismiss your servant in peace, for you have fulfilled your word  and my eyes have seen your salvation,  which you display for all the people to see.

 Here is the light you will reveal to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.”  His father and mother wondered at what was said about the child. Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, “See him; he will be for the rise or fall of the multitudes of Israel.

He shall stand as a sign of con­tra­diction, while a sword will pierce your own soul. Then the secret thoughts of many may be brought to light.”  There was also a prophetess named Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.

After leaving her father’s home, she had been seven years with her husband, and since then she had been continually about the Temple, serving God as a widow night and day in fasting and prayer. She was now eighty-four. Co­ming up at that time, she gave praise to God and spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.

 When the parents had fulfilled all that was required by the law of the Lord, they returned to their town, Nazareth in Galilee. There the child grew in stature and strength and was filled with wisdom: the grace of God was upon him.

 

Gospel Reflection：

Some people spent a life time waiting and looking for something important. The challenge is to hold on as time goes by and the original enthusiasm wanes. But Simeon and Anna keep their hopes alive.

They nourished it with their prayer life. Only the strength of the Spirit could make us hold on through the years without losing hope. And so, on that day the child Jesus is presented in the Temple, these two extraordinary humans are ready to receive that which they have been hoping for.

Their joy is complet for they are made whole by the realization of that which they fervently waited to happen before they pass from this earth.