A Journey of Discovery
Michiel Peeters - We entered the church with a lit candle in hand, just as the baby Jesus was brought into the Jerusalem Temple by Mary and Joseph, where Simeon and Anna were looking out for him. The Temple of Jerusalem is an image of the world. The child Jesus brought into the Temple is God entering this world as a human being. We who have walked through this church with lit candles are the Christians who illuminate this world with a light they carry. What light? The presence of the Lord that they recognize. We are called to recognize His presence—that is faith—and thus to be points of light in the world, “children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,” as St. Paul says (Phil 2:15).
“Look to Him and be radiant” yourselves (Ps 34:6).
Who can recognize the Lord present and thus be a point of light in His Temple, the world? Only those who have a question, a need, a desire within them to which nothing else than something Infinite can be the answer. Only he who feels his human need, has it open, does not censor his humanity, does not suppress his questions, does not stop his reason at the surface of things, but allows himself to be challenged by reality to seek further, to be on the outlook, to expect, only he who uses his infinite desire as a criterion of judgment for all encounters and proposals he runs into, only he will be able to recognize, acknowledge, thank, enjoy, follow the light of the Lord and be transformed by Him when He makes Himself present.
Therefore, protagonists of today’s feast are Simeon and Anna. Simeon, “righteous and devout” (coinciding with his humanity), awaited “the consolation of Israel,” a fulfillment that had been promised, though he had no idea what it would look like. And Anna, “eighty-four” years old, who “never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.” Always on the outlook, always waiting, expecting—and probably noticed by very few. Those are the people who can recognize the exceptional presence when it happens. Amid the hundreds of visitors to the Temple, only Simeon and Anna could recognize the “consolation,” the “salvation,” the “light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” Because they were waiting, longing, on the outlook.
Because of the attitude of Simeon and Anna, the Church—in the person of St. Pope John Paul II—declared today’s feast as the “World Day for Consecrated Life.” Those who have been seized by the Lord’s presence—consolation, salvation, light—can say, like Simeon: this (your presence) is so fulfilling. Now, do whatever you please with me. “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation.”
The vocation of those who are so seized by the Lord’s presence that they need nothing else, no other sign, is called “virginity.” But virginity is first and foremost waiting, longing, seeking, being on the outlook, hungering, thirsting, asking, begging; in short, that which characterized Mary, as well as Simeon and Anna.
The author has not revised the text and its tranlsations.
