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December 29, 2020My community has a ritual we practice when one of our sisters is near death. Every sister who is able takes her turn sitting at the dying sister’s side, hour by hour, until the Lord comes to take her hand and lead her home. It is a tender and loving ritual. When we attend to her this way, waiting together for the fulfillment of God’s promise, we too, like Simeon, enter the sacred space, the living temple of God. It is easy to sense the presence of Simeon and Anna with us. Each sister shares in this ritual in her particularly personal way. As for myself, I quietly/silently chant Simeon’s Canticle: “Oh Lord, let your servant, let me come to you in peace, for now all your promises have been fulfilled. My eyes have seen your glory and your love has been revealed as a light bringing joy to all the world.”
Simeon’s life and my sister’s life similarly bear the liminal grace leading to the threshold of divine light. Both, directed by the Holy Spirit, waiting for the consolation of Israel and the time of fulfillment. The light guides us into a time of preparation and remembering during this Advent season - the incredible mystery of Incarnation - the mystery of a God completely insistent on being one of, with and among us, arriving just as we arrive – helpless, dependent, vulnerable - as a baby revealing to us what God has created – the human made in the divine image and likeness. If this does not take our breath away, we do not yet understand. As we lean into this light that is God here, one with us, “waking, sleeping, dreaming, eating, drinking, working, loving, relaxing, playing, walking, sitting, standing and breathing”, we, like Simeon are wrapped in peace. Knowing our own eyes have seen the Lord, with each breath we say, “Yes, Lord! Yes”, and embrace the mystery that breathes - us.
Throughout our lives we, like Mary and Joseph, keep all these things in our hearts and reflect upon wonders we cannot fully grasp. Each day we see with our own eyes, the glory of the Lord revealed in and through all of creation, in all who walk in and out of our lives, in the awakening of our consciousness, in the renewal of our hopes and the transformation of our sufferings. In this way we welcome Jesus as he comes to make a home in the temple of our lives.
