A sign of contradiction

PRESENCE OF GOD - The world is made up of friends and enemies of Jesus. O Lord, grant that I may be one of the former, and one of the most loving of them.

MEDITATION

1. Today’s Mass is an echo of Christmas, but while it speaks of peace and joy, it also has a note of deep sadness. The Gospel (Lk 2,33-40) suddenly transports us to the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, forty days after His birth, and repeats Simeon’s prophecy, “Behold this Child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted.” The Son of God became man for all men; He brings and offers salvation to all, but many will not receive it. This is the great mystery of human freedom. God has made man intelligent and free; He offers him all the treasures of salvation and sanctity contained in the infinite merits of Jesus Christ; man is free to accept or refuse. This is our tremendous responsibility. Jesus came to save us, to sanctify us, to give Himself entirely to our souls. He is ready to do it, He wants to do it, and yet He will not do it until we freely accept His infinite gift, until we correspond to His loving solicitation with the free gift of our will. “God never forces anyone; He takes what we give Him, but does not give Himself wholly until He sees that we are giving ourselves wholly to Him” (T.J. Way, 28). The prophecy of Simeon was addressed directly to the Virgin Mother. “And thy own soul a sword shall pierce.” The bloody vision of the Cross is thus mingled unexpectedly with the charming scene of the Nativity, reminding us that the tender Babe of Bethlehem is the divine Lamb who will one day be immolated for the salvation of the world.

2. Among all those present when the Child Jesus was presented in the Temple, there were only two who recognized the Savior, the aged Simeon and the prophetess Anna. Of Simeon it is said: “He was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Ghost was in him” (Lk 2,25); and of Anna: “She departed not from the Temple, by fastings and prayers serving night and day.” Behold the characteristics of souls well disposed to accept the redemptive work of Jesus: rectitude of mind and will, sincere longing for God, recollection, prayer, mortification. The more profound these dispositions become, the more the soul opens itself to the divine action. The light of the Holy Spirit enables it to recognize in Jesus its Redeemer and its Sanctifier, and Jesus can wholly accomplish His work in it. St. Paul’s magnificent words in today’s Epistle (Gal 4,1-7) apply to such souls in a special way: “And because you are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying: Abba, Father!” And the Apostle says to every Christian, to every soul redeemed by Jesus’ Blood, “ Now you are not a servant, but a son. And if a son, an heir also through God.” Unfortunately, not ell Christians live as true sons of God; in Baptism they have received the “adoption of sons,” but they do not make their deeds correspond to this immense, gratuitous gift, the fruit of the merits of Jesus. When, on the other hand, a soul generously corresponds with God’s action, He takes total possession of it, and the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, cries out from the depths of its heart, “Abba, Father.”

COLLOQUY

O my God, what responsibility men have when they consider Your great gifts, and especially the Incarnation of Your only-begotten Son, who became man for our salvation! "Oh, how the very greatness of His favor will condemn those who are ungrateful! Do come to the help of such, my God! O children of men, how long will you be hard of heart and fight against this most gentle Jesus? What is this? Is it possible that our wickedness will prevail against Him? No, for human life is cut short like the flower of the grass, and the Son of the Virgin will come and pass that terrible sentence.... Blessed are they who at that dread moment shall rejoice with You, O my Lord and my God.

“O my Lord, how shall I ask You for favors, I who have served You so ill and have hardly been able to keep what You have already given? How can You have any confidence in one who has so often betrayed You? What, then, shall I do, Comfort of the comfortless, and Help of all who seek help from You? Can it be better to keep silence about my necessities, hoping that You will relieve them? No, indeed, for You, my Lord and my Joy, knowing how many they are, and how it will alleviate them to speak to You about them, bid us to pray to You and promise that You will not fail to give.

“What, then, can one who is as wretched as I, ask of You? ‘That Thou wilt give to me, my God,’ as St. Augustine said, ‘so that I may give to Thee, to repay Thee some part of all that I owe Thee; that Thou wilt remember that I am Thy handiwork; and that I may know who my Creator is, and so may love Him’” (T.J. Exc, 3-5). But it is I, O Lord, above all, who am forgetful and do not correspond as I should to Your infinite gifts! O gentle pilgrim of love, You stand at the door and wait! How many doors in Bethlehem were closed to You: there was no room for You except in a wretched stable. And is not my heart still more wretched, more squalid, more unworthy of You than that poor stable? And yet, if I open it to You, You will not disdain to make it Your dwelling and the place of Your repose, as You did the stable where You were born. O my Jesus, give me the grace to open my heart wide to You, to adhere with all the strength of my will to Your grace, to give You all my liberty, because henceforth I desire but one liberty: the liberty to love You with all my strength, to give myself wholly to You. O Lord, how much You have loved us, and how few are those that love You! Grant that at least these few may be truly faithful to You, and that I also may be of their number.