29 December 2021
The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas
For today’s reflection, I want to draw upon a book that came out this year from the Jesuit artist, Fr. Bill Cain, SJ. His book, the Dairy of Jesus Christ, is a collection of homiletical stories that re-imagine Gospel scenes from the perspective of Jesus. It is a delightful read and insightful in coming to appreciate what Jesus’ experience of other people and his humanity could have been like. Fr. Cain includes a chapter that combines this episode with Simeon and Jesus teaching in the Temple as a child.
Fr. Cain imagines Jesus at 12 years of age with his parents returning to the Temple and seeing Simeon still there. Jesus was curious whether Simeon would recognize him again as the child of destiny. As he approaches Simeon, he sees Simeon greeting another young couple with a baby in their care. Simeon blesses this child as he did Jesus many years ago: “Ah, such a special child. Now I can die in peace. I have seen the salvation of Israel.” Jesus wonders if he is special after all.
Jesus wanders away from his parents to find Simeon where he can be alone with him. Simeon explains that he blesses every child as the “child of salvation,” and it is not his fault if the child is ordinary. The parents offer him a few coins for his subsistence in gratitude for the blessing. He reports that the rabbis ridicule him for being indiscriminate in the blessings he offers. Simeon feels ashamed as if he is a fraud. Jesus does not turn away from him but rather begins to ask him questions. Simeon parries, retorting he is not a holy man, and his questions are suited for someone else. Jesus replies that he might be the only holy one in the Temple. His questions are good, and Simeon calls on other rabbis to help discuss Jesus’ questions.
The chapter concludes with a final question from Jesus:
Finally I [Jesus] asked, “In the scripture God speaks of Israel as if it were one single person. If that’s true, is it possible—is it possible when the scripture speaks of the Messiah as one person—that he might be many people? Is it possible? Is it possible?”
“Yes,” they said. “It is possible.”
“Well, then,” I asked, “is it possible that every child born is—in fact—a light to the nations? Is it possible that every child is destined for the rise and fall of the kingdom?”
They were quiet while they thought. Then Simeon said, “You mean—you mean I was right?”
I asked again, “Is—it—possible?”
And the rabbis agreed that, yes, it was possible. And that they had never thought of that. And they looked on Simeon as something of a prophet.
And as Simeon was rejoicing, my parents arrived and they were furious with me. They shouted at me—which they never did. The rabbis tried to get them to stop, but I said, “No, please, let them go on.” And they did.
And when it was finally time for us to leave, Simeon rose, full of pride, and said, “Child, before you go—“ And the old man took me in his arms and in front of the rabbis and my parents he proclaimed loudly, presenting me to the world, “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.”
Christ in this creative re-telling of Simeon’s story moves Simeon from the outcast in the Temple to the prophet announcing his entry into the world. May we pray for the same gift from Christ in our lives, that is to announce Christ’s coming and doing it by asking for God’s blessing on all whom we encounter.
Citation from the excerpt: Cain, Bill. The Diary of Jesus Christ (pp. 17-18).