In the scripture of our Mass this past week we hear from John’s first letter. In the gospel we hear of the presentation of the infant Jesus in the temple. We hear how the hope of Simeon and Anna has been fulfilled as God’s Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to them and inspires them to proclaim the Good News of this revelation (Luke 2:22-40).
Like Anna and Simeon, we too are called to place our hope in Jesus. We too are blessed that God chooses to reveal Himself to us most fully in Jesus. We too are blessed that God has chosen us to “have fellowship with God” (1 John 1:6), and to love the things that God loves (1 John 15-17). We too are blessed that we have a “faithful and just God who forgives our sins and cleanses us from every wrong doing” (1 John 9). And like those prophets of old – John, Simeon, and Anna – , we too are called to proclaim this Good News to all those we encounter, and to “walk in the light…just as Jesus walked” (1 John 1:7; 2:6).
So we continue forward during this Christmas season and beyond, asking God to help us acknowledge, embrace, and respond to all of these blessings. We continue forward on our journey asking God to nurture in us a hope founded in faith, and a faith founded in love – the love that God bestows upon us, the love that we share among each other, and the love that we return to God.