Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

February 2, 2016 6:30am

As Jesus is presented in the temple by Mary and Joseph, I am taken by these two elderly persons: Simeon and Anna.

Simeon is described as “righteous and devout.”

Anna is called a “prophetess.”

What comes across is that Simeon and Anna have habits of faithfulness.

I like that expression: habits of faithfulness.

Simeon and Anna regularly come to the temple.

They pray every day.

And these habits of faithfulness seem to have given them inner peace and steady hope.

Despite the passing of many years, they come across as very peaceful persons and they also trust God’s word.

They look forward with hope to seeing the One promised by God.

And because of these habits of faithfulness, they are able to see the presence of God himself in this child Jesus.

So maybe the point of reflection this morning is: do we have habits of faithfulness that enable us to see God’s presence in our midst?

I recommend this structure or way of looking at it:

A habit of vocal prayer, praying each day learned prayers like the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

A habit of mental prayer, speaking from our heart each day to God personally.

A habit of quiet, silent reflective prayer, just silently being with God for a few minutes each day and letting come up what comes in our inner relationship with God.

And finally, a habit of community prayer, at least weekly joining in the prayer of the Mass and receiving the Eucharist, the presence of Jesus, of God himself.

These habits of prayer will open our eyes to seeing and discerning the presence of God, just as these habits did for Simeon and Anna today.