Dear Brothers and Sister,
On this feast of the Holy Family we can thank God for the family he has given us, even with the warts. Hopefully, you can see how crucial the family is for becoming a Christian. The world today is at war against the family and against the figure of the father. This has very serious consequences for all society. It is a marvel that Christ was born in a family to a single mother, but God did not leave it that way. Joseph was the father in all aspects except one. How wonderful it is that Christ lived in a family in a small town for thirty years, passing unnoticed, and working in the trade of his father. How many things he must have learned from Mary and Joseph. What a great example the Holy Family presents to us and helps us to live a Christian life.
The gospel today introduces us to a man named Simeon, a righteous and devout man. He always fulfilled the Law and was a just person. He would go to the Temple every day to pray. The Pharisees are devout or pious, but they are not righteous or holy as this man was. Simeon listened to the Lord; he was attentive to the Holy Spirit which ‘was upon him’ even many years before Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was with him and revealed to him that he would not die before he had seen the Messiah.
Do you and I listen to the Holy Spirit? If we are a bit like Simeon, we would follow the inspirations of the Spirit. However, often we don’t. How awesome this revelation was for him: that he would see the Messiah before he died, wow! Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit on that day he goes to the Temple and sees Salvation. How many times have we heard internally to go to Mass today or go to confess today? This is the Holy Spirit speaking to us. He is with us and is a spirit, but he’s not put in a porcelain jar that is pretty to look at but easily breaks and disappears, no! If we commit a serious sin he is not scared and goes away.
The Holy Spirit has been with us ever since our Baptism. He is not a silly little dove that gets scandalized by what we do and then we don’t have him anymore. He is always with you, and he tells you: you have sinned, go and reconcile with the Lord and with others. He is the one who says, give to the poor, take a little gift to your wife since you treated her so badly. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. He tells you to forgive your husband; he is a poor man, weak at time so forgive him. Listen, how often does he say you to you to go to Mass and then you hear something that is a great help to you and your family. Here hopefully you come to have an encounter with Jesus Christ, not just to warm the pew. We don’t come to see the priest or to show our face or even to learn something pious. We come to meet a particular person who is Jesus of Nazareth. To meet him like Simeon and to carry him in our arms.
I love the tenderness of Simeon. When Mary and Joseph came to the temple with the child, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed him. How can someone bless God? To bless means to say good things. The opposite is to curse him. To bless is to speak well of God and Simeon did so in a profound way. Our mentality is to always ask God to bless us. Bless me, Lord, bless me! Do we ever bless God, that is to speak well of him, even with others. Everything he does is good. Can we say, he has done everything well in my life. He always keeps his promises. Now you can let your servant go in peace, Simeon says. Now he can die; he has seen the Christ Child. He can die in peace for my eyes have seen the Savior.
This is what all of us need: to see with our eyes the face of Jesus Christ. It’s possible to see the Lord with our very eyes. Today I will raise up the Body of Christ and you can not only see him but can also eat him and take him in your arms. He will be inside of you. This is not a figure or sign of Christ, but Christ himself. It is the same Christ that Simeon took in his arms; he is going to enter you today, in this Eucharist. So, you can also say, let your servant go in peace, because my eyes have seen my salvation.
The Lord comes to us today to save us from some anguish, a suffering, a sadness, so don’t be afraid. Our Lord loves you and is with you. He goes forward with you, helps you and consoles you. He shows his love through the brothers and sisters. This gospel is used also for the feast of the Presentation in the Temple or Candlemas as it is called in some places. Simeon says, my eyes have seen salvation, a light for the nations and the glory of my people. In many places there is a procession, and a statue of the Virgin Mary is accompanied by candles or torches to show that Christ is the light of the nations, a light to gentiles and the glory of your people.
Christ is the light and light is a marvelous sign. Without light we die. Can you imagine a world without light, in total darkness; it would be horrifying. We would die. I always liked the moon which is not a star and has no light of its own. The sun is a star, but the moon only circles the earth and has no light of its own. It is just a mass of earth and craters, without any life, so how does it give light? It is only a reflection of the sun. This is what a Christian is called to be, a reflection of the light of the son of God. He/she reflects in some way the light of Christ.
We are like a moon, weak, poor, sinners but we can reflect the light of Christ which is love. We reflect it because we are not Christ, and it is easy to reflect this light. The color white reflects the light well. The color black does the opposite; it absorbs the light. We are black when we love ourselves, when we don’t want to reflect this love, when we love only selfishly. When you love, you are that light. If one person of the two reflects the light of the Son, this love that God has for you, it is enough.
Have you noticed how when someone loves you, then you can love in return, and you are happy. When someone gets you something that shows some thought, he/she is saying, I love you. Then we’ll do anything for them. When the spouse shows a detail of love, he makes the bed, brings her breakfast in bed, says he loves her, brings her flowers or whatever, she feels loved and then she loves in return, no? When she makes his favorite meal, shows a sign of affection, he feels loved and can love in return. The problem is when both are looking for the other to love them. It’s like the color black. It’s enough that one loves and the other responds, but who is the first one to love? If you have Christ, you can love first and you can say, today I will act as a Christian and I’ll be the first to love and bring her breakfast in bed or love my boss or my co-worker.
May the Lord grant us the grace to experience his love today. Grant us, Lord, this love that can come into our life as it did to Simeon’s life and may we receive this light of his love today.