Readings: The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas | USCCB 

Grant us Thy peace. 

Today’s gospel invites us to enter the story of salvation through the eyes of Simeon, the only figure the canonical gospels describe as holding the infant Jesus in his arms. 

Simeon is an “upright and devout man,” which means, among other things, that he spent a good deal of time around the temple in Jerusalem. They would have been a familiar sight to him, this young, impoverished couple and their newborn son, who had come to Jerusalem from who-knows-where to perform the postpartum purification ritual described by the Law of Moses. (Did he know they had walked the six miles from Bethlehem?) 

Like other poor families, they only had two birds to offer for the sacrifice, a concession allowed by the Law, which normally called for a female sheep or goat (Lv 5:6-7). Like other poor families, they would have been waiting their turn in line, perhaps for several hours. 

Grant us Thy peace. 

The young mother would have been tired. What a relief to have someone else hold the child, even if only for a moment. 

But Simeon saw more than most, a function of his age perhaps, or of a wisdom Luke credits to the Spirit. Simeon “looked forward to the liberation of Israel,” not unlike the two companions who much later will accompany Jesus, unawares on the road to Emmaus (Lk. 24:21). 

Is it so remarkable that he saw that liberation in the fragile body of the child he now held in his arms? Every newborn child raises these hopes, especially among the poor and those otherwise weary of the constant violence, both real and threatened, of the status quo. “Change is coming.” “The next generation will set things straight.” “Yes, there will be sacrifices, and more blood.” “And the wailing of mothers as they embrace their dead sons.” 

But in this young child, Simeon sees and declares something different. A definitive end to this dreadful cycle. A light shines in dark times. Whispers of God’s peace. And that suffices. 

Paul Wojda, Associate Professor in Theology  

The Campus Ministry Seasonal Reflections are offered during the liturgical seasons of Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter. We bring a variety of voices from Students, Faculty and Staff. The perspectives expressed in these reflections are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Campus Ministry