Lk 2:22-35 Holding True to the Gospel

Fifth Day of the Octave of Christmas
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by KATIE GROSS

Today’s Gospel reading is long-- usually I try to cut a portion out and only comment on one part, but I cannot bring myself to do that today! Every portion of this Gospel reading teaches us a profound and timely lesson about the dignity of the human person through life, death, and suffering.

When the days were completed for their purification

according to the law of Moses,

the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem

to present him to the Lord,

just as it is written in the law of the Lord,

Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,

and to offer the sacrifice of

a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,

in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.

It is very hard for us as humans to grasp the true sanctity oflife. The ancient Jewish ritual truly emphasized the sanctity of every new life, regardless of the circumstances under which one was born. Joseph and Mary were not rich by any means, nor was the birth of Jesus expected. Even so, the same ritual still applied for every Jewish child—a presentation and a sacrifice which showed just how much that child was worth in the eyes of God. Our culture has much to learn from this ritual. Last Friday, I was out Christmas shopping with a friend in a nice neighborhood in Dallas. We were having a great time, unbothered by anything going on around us. Then we drove a mere thirty seconds and that all ended. On the other side of an otherwise outwardly nice block began a much darker neighborhood, marked by none other than a huge abortion clinic.

Why has our society taken it upon itself to judge the worth of a human life? Jesus was the most unexpected of all pregnancies, born into troubling circumstances. By our modern definition of worth, wouldn’t He too be of little value? Pope Francis said recently, “Every unborn child, although unjustly condemned to be aborted, has the face of Jesus Christ, the Lord’s face.”

On the same note, if you have a Twitter account, you for sure have seen hashtags surrounding the Ferguson situation such as #BlackLivesMatter, #AllLivesMatter, and the like. The vast majority of the former hashtag comes from the African-American community and the latter from the white community, so clearly these hashtags represent a political stance of sorts instead of a sincere call to conversion. I will be the first to say that I know absolutely nothing about Ferguson and other situations. However, independent of the situation, I can clearly see a cause for upset among economically disadvantaged communities. If you are not rich in this country, you probably live within blocks of an abortion clinic. If you are not rich, you are probably inundated with the message that your life is of little value. We have stopped defending the value of every life as a culture.

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Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.

This man was righteous and devout,

awaiting the consolation of Israel,

and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit

that he should not see death

before he had seen the Christ of the Lord…

he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:

“Lord, now let your servant go in peace;

your word has been fulfilled:

my own eyes have seen the salvation

which you prepared in the sight of every people,

a light to reveal you to the nations

and the glory of your people Israel.”

The next thing we do not understand is death. A very wise woman from the movie Forrest Gump once said, “Death is just another part of life.” If only all of us had this hope! Imagine if you were told by God exactly when you would die, like he did to Simeon. When that moment came, how many of us would react with grace like he did? I personally think I would complain to God that I was not ready or try to find a way out of it.Regardless of how much faith we have in our hearts, it is undeniably difficult to face our own mortality. When we age, we color our hair. When we get sick, some of us refuse to get medical help. We must pray to increase our hope that God will raise us up—that this life isn’t all there is for us: “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day” (John 6:40).

The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;

and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,

“Behold, this child is destined

for the fall and rise of many in Israel,

and to be a sign that will be contradicted

(and you yourself a sword will pierce)

so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

The last thing we don’t understand as a culture is suffering. The typical question that people who doubt God ask is, “why would a merciful God allow suffering?” However, in our Bible, Mary isdirectly promised by a prophet of God that she will suffer! Isn’t that cruel? No-- this is where Christians stand alone. Many world religions have the single goal of avoiding suffering, or seek to explain it away. For us, however, suffering is not only an unavoidable part of life, but the very thing that gained us our salvation. Suffering is a grace that unites us to the mystery of our own salvation through the suffering of Christ. The Catechism even says that the suffering person is “consecrated to bear fruit by configuration to the Savior's redemptive Passion” (CCC 1500).

Our faith has a view of life, death, and suffering that is challenged by the modern culture at every turn. Let us pray that we will be able to be courageous enough to hold true and witness to our vision of life, consistent with the Gospel.