Working with the Word

Focusing the Gospel

Key words and phrases: written in the law; awaiting the consolation of Israel; revealed ... by the Holy Spirit; prophetess, Anna ... spoke about the child; awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem

To the point: Mary and Joseph were faithful to the law when they came to present their forty-day-old Son in the temple and offer the prescribed sacrifice. Simeon and Anna show us, however, that more is necessary than obedience to the law in order to recognize the presence of the Son-Messiah. Filled with expectation, they were actively waiting and looking for “the Christ of the Lord” and the “redemption of Jerusalem.” Their very expectation and waiting was the work of the Holy Spirit within them. As with Simeon and Anna, our own lives must be filled with the expectation and waiting that is truly the work of the Holy Spirit within us. Only then will we see and recognize the Messiah in our midst.

Connecting the Gospel …

… to the First Reading: The Gospel shows one way that Jesus was like us: he fulfilled the law by being taken to the temple to be offered to God. The second reading shows us other ways that Jesus was like us: he “share[d] in blood and flesh,” he “was tested,” and “he suffered.”

… to experience: The stronger our desire for what we await, the greater our impatience tends to be when its arrival is delayed. If we feel impatient for the coming of salvation in Christ, however, perhaps we are not seeing what is already before our eyes.

**From Saint Louis University