Included in this Sunday’s Gospel are the stories of Simeon and Anna. They are both prophets who happily receive Jesus and present prayers of thanksgiving in response. Simeon and Anna are just a few of the many common people who are drawn from the background to the foreground in the Gospel.
The Gospel’s habit of presenting background people as persons of dignity and worth is true in Jesus. There is little to recommend the baby Jesus. His parents are poor; they too are drawn from the background. Simeon and Anna are likely poor as well. Yet Simeon and Anna, from years of prayer and reflection, are wise enough to recognize divinity. They recognize the essence of divinity Mary and Joseph present to them in the small child. After their time in Jerusalem, Mary and Joseph then return with the baby Jesus to the background of a small town, Nazareth. Nazareth too is presented with dignity and worth for as the Gospel states it was there that the “child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom.”
It is often in the background, from the obscurity of being a common person living in a common place, that we are presented with opportunities to appreciate the Presence of God and present prayers of thanksgiving in response.
Prayer: Spirit of Presence, Thank you.
Question: Who or what is presented to me in my daily life as the essence of divinity?
February 2, 2014 Feast of the Presentation