THURSDAY, APRIL 28
READ LUKE 2:22-40LUKE 2:22 When the time came for their purification according to the Torah of Moshe, they took him up to Yerushalayim to present him to Adonai 23 (as it is written in the Torah of Adonai, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to Adonai”[Luke 2:23 Exodus 13:2, 12, 15]) 24 and also to offer a sacrifice of a pair of doves or two young pigeons,[Luke 2:24 Leviticus 12:8] as required by the Torah of Adonai.
25 There was in Yerushalayim a man named Shim‘on. This man was a tzaddik, he was devout, he waited eagerly for God to comfort Isra’el, and the Ruach HaKodesh was upon him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Ruach HaKodesh that he would not die before he had seen the Messiah of Adonai. 27 Prompted by the Spirit, he went into the Temple courts; and when the parents brought in the child Yeshua to do for him what the Torah required, 28 Shim‘on took him in his arms, made a b’rakhah to God, and said,
29 “Now, Adonai, according to your word,
your servant is at peace as you let him go;
30 for I have seen with my own eyes your yeshu‘ah,
31 which you prepared in the presence of all peoples —
32 a light that will bring revelation to the Goyim
and glory to your people Isra’el.”
33 Yeshua’s father and mother were marvelling at the things Shim‘on was saying about him. 34 Shim‘on blessed them and said to the child’s mother, Miryam,
“This child will cause many in Isra’el to fall and to rise,
he will become a sign whom people will speak against;
35 moreover, a sword will pierce your own heart too.
All this will happen in order to reveal many people’s inmost thoughts.”
36 There was also a prophet named Hannah Bat-P’nu’el, of the tribe of Asher. She was a very old woman — she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage 37 and had remained a widow ever since; now she was eighty-four. She never left the Temple grounds but worshipped there night and day, fasting and praying. 38 She came by at that moment and began thanking God and speaking about the child to everyone who was waiting for Yerushalayim to be liberated.
39 When Yosef and Miryam had finished doing everything required by the Torah of Adonai, they returned to the Galil, to their town Natzeret.
40 The child grew and became strong and filled with wisdom — God’s favor was upon him.
In his book Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom, John O’Donohue shares an idea for a short story he hoped to write: the notion that in the course of our whole life, we would meet just one other person. That idea prompts compelling questions. If we could meet only one person, how would we prepare? What practices would we undertake in order to become ready for such an encounter?
In today’s reading we meet two people who have devoted their lives to this kind of preparation. Simeon and Anna have oriented their entire being toward waiting, to making ready for the One they knew would come. When Mary and Joseph bring the infant Jesus to Jerusalem in order to present him at the Temple, Simeon and Anna are there: Simeon, drawn by the Holy Spirit “who rested on him”; Anna, who has spent much of her life living at the Temple—a sacred place in itself. Having long practiced the art of waiting, Anna and Simeon are so prepared that when they see the child whom Mary and Joseph bring, each of them recognizes Jesus. Their years of anticipation have come to an end. Waiting gives way to welcome as they greet him with blessings and with joy.Christ calls us to this kind of anticipation. How do we prepare ourselves so that, like Anna and Simeon, we will recognize Christ when he shows up in the people who cross our path? How will we make ourselves ready to welcome him in all the ways he will appear?
May your eyes be open to see the face of Christ; your ears be open to hear the voice of Christ; your heart be open to welcome Christ; your hands be open to bless Christ in everyone you meet.[Jan L. Richardson]
Our mailing address is:
The Upper Room Strategic Initiatives
PO Box 340007
Nashville, Tennessee 37203, United States
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