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My Eyes Have Seen Your Salvation
Luke 2:22-35 Introductory Prayer:Dear Lord Jesus, I come before your manger to pray once again. With eyes of faith I want to contemplate all that transpires in your Gospels, taking it all in and treasuring it in my heart like the Blessed Virgin Mary. I know not all the events that will fill this day. However, I do know that if you are with me, no evil can occur. Dear Jesus, be with me in this time of prayer, and teach me. Let me decide to be like you and your Mother. Petition:Lord, teach me to hope in you alone. 1. The Hope of the Jews. Time after time, when threatened by or subjected to war, exile, famine or slavery, God sent the Jews a leader to guide them through their sufferings. Two thousand years ago they were raising their voices to God, begging him to send the long-awaited Messiah, who they believed would deliver them from the hated Romans who occupied their homeland. God’s answer was Jesus, his own son, who came to save all men, body and soul -- not from suffering, but from sin. Yet, how many Jews refused to accept him as their savior, fully convinced that the Messiah would be a great political leader and deliverer! No one, not even Christ Jesus, who would perform many miracles, was going to change their mind. They were going to dictate to God how the world ought to be saved. Suffering, patiently endured out of love for God, was incomprehensible to them. Often we ourselves can get angry at God for not delivering us from suffering. Sometimes “salvation through the cross” doesn’t sit very well with us. We complain loudly and point a finger at God, and ask him how he is going to solve our problems and the problems of the world. We forget that through his Passion Jesus redeemed suffering and gave it salvific value. We need to ask God to help us to hope in him. 2. Simeon’s Hope. Simeon had been waiting a long time to see Jesus. He was a man who lived attentive to the Holy Spirit’s voice, a man who listened, a docile man who was led. He awaited not just any savior, but the Consolation of Israel. His hopes were firmly placed in Almighty God, who had revealed to him that he would behold the Christ, the Anointed One, before dying. Led by the Spirit, Simeon enters the Temple and encounters Mary and Joseph, as they bring their child to present him to the Lord. Rejoicing, he asks the parents if he can hold Jesus. Mary and Joseph, unsure of what is transpiring, can surely see in Simeon’s glistening eyes that something very special is occurring. His joyful words, pronounced as he looks up toward heaven, amaze them: “My eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel." Simeon, with tears rolling down his cheeks, finally embraces Emmanuel, God-with-us. His hopes are definitively fulfilled. His life is fulfilled, and he prays that his Master might “let his servant go in peace.” Simeon knows how to hope in the fulfillment of God’s great plan. 3. Ablaze with Hope. Certainly this unusual scene would have included many bewildered onlookers. People about their Temple worship would have noticed the enthusiasm of the old man, and would have been made to wonder. Could it be true? Is the smiling baby truly the Promised One? Listening attentively, Mary and Joseph marveled as glory, sorrow and contradiction were each forecast into Christ’s future. They were already accustomed to placing all of their hope in God. Simeon’s own strong hope became a blazing beacon, so that the hearts of all could be lit anew. We need to learn — like him, and like Mary and Joseph — to hope unconditionally in God’s master plan, so that others can look to us for that contagious hope in providence. Conversation with Christ: Dear Lord, teach me to be docile to your plan for my life. So often I am tempted to plot my own course, without asking your opinion. Be my guide and show me the way. Teach me to trust in you, and hope in your salvation. I want to depend on your will, seeking it out above all my human priorities. Resolution: At some point today I will pray for the Pope and the Church. |
O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.
A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.
| Psalm 62 (63) |
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| Thirsting for God |
| O God, you are my God, I wait for you from the dawn. My soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you. I came to your sanctuary, as one in a parched and waterless land, so that I could see your might and your glory. My lips will praise you, for your mercy is better than life itself. Thus I will bless you throughout my life, and raise my hands in prayer to your name; my soul will be filled as if by rich food, and my mouth will sing your praises and rejoice. I will remember you as I lie in bed, I will think of you in the morning, for you have been my helper, and I will take joy in the protection of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand raises me up. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
| Canticle | Daniel 3 |
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| All creatures, bless the Lord | |
| Bless the Lord, all his works, praise and exalt him for ever. Bless the Lord, you heavens; all his angels, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, you waters above the heavens; all his powers, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, sun and moon; all stars of the sky, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, rain and dew; all you winds, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, fire and heat; cold and warmth, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, dew and frost; ice and cold, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, ice and snow; day and night, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, light and darkness; lightning and storm-clouds, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, all the earth, praise and exalt him for ever. Bless the Lord, mountains and hills; all growing things, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, seas and rivers; springs and fountains, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, whales and fish; birds of the air, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, wild beasts and tame; sons of men, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, O Israel, praise and exalt him for ever. Bless the Lord, his priests; all his servants, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, spirits of the just; all who are holy and humble, bless the Lord. Ananias, Azarias, Mishael, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him for ever. Let us bless Father, Son and Holy Spirit, praise and exalt them for ever. Bless the Lord in the firmament of heaven, praise and glorify him for ever. |
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| Psalm 149 |
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| The saints rejoice |
| Sing a new song to the Lord, his praise in the assembly of the faithful. Let Israel rejoice in its maker, and the sons of Sion delight in their king. Let them praise his name with dancing, sing to him with timbrel and lyre, for the Lord’s favour is upon his people, and he will honour the humble with victory. Let the faithful celebrate his glory, rejoice even in their beds, the praise of God in their throats; and swords ready in their hands, to exact vengeance upon the nations, impose punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings in fetters and their nobles in manacles of iron, to carry out the sentence that has been passed: this is the glory prepared for all his faithful. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
| Short reading | Hebrews 1:1 - 2 © |
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| At various times in the past and in various different ways, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in our own time, the last days, he has spoken to us through his Son, the Son that he has appointed to inherit everything and through whom he made everything there is. | |
| Canticle | Benedictus |
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| The Messiah and his forerunner | |
| Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and brought about their redemption. He has raised up the sign of salvation in the house of his servant David, as he promised through the mouth of the holy ones, his prophets through the ages: to rescue us from our enemies and all who hate us, to take pity on our fathers, to remember his holy covenant and the oath he swore to Abraham our father, that he would give himself to us, that we could serve him without fear – freed from the hands of our enemies – in uprightness and holiness before him, for all of our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High: for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his path, to let his people know their salvation, so that their sins may be forgiven. Through the bottomless mercy of our God, one born on high will visit us to give light to those who walk in darkness, who live in the shadow of death; to lead our feet in the path of peace. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
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| Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. |
| Almighty and invisible God, by your coming you dispelled the shadows of this world. We ask you to look with favour upon us so that we may worthily celebrate the splendour of your Son’s nativity. He lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen. |
| May the Lord bless us and keep us from all harm; and may he lead us to eternal life. |
| A M E N |