34 — A SIGN OF CONTRADICTION

Sunday within the octave of the Nativity

Presence of God. — Before Jesus the world is divided: friends and enemies. O Lord, may I be among the first and among the most loving!

Meditation

1 — Today’s Mass is an echo of Holy Christmas, but while it commemorates its sweetness and joy, it also carries a note of deep sadness. The Gospel (Lk. 2, 33-40) transports us suddenly to forty days after Jesus’ birth, when He was presented in the temple, and reports Simeon’s prophecy: “Behold, this Child is destined to be the cause of the ruin and resurrection of many in Israel and to become a sign of contradiction.”

The Son of God becomes man for all men and women, brings and offers salvation to all, but many will not receive it. This is the great mystery of human freedom. God places before Himself His intelligent and free creature: He offers it all the treasures of salvation and holiness enclosed 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 wholly to our souls: He is ready to do it, He wills to do it, and yet He will not do it if we do not freely accept His infinite gift, if we do not correspond to His loving solicitations with the small free gift of our will. “God forces no one: He accepts what is given to Him, but He does not give Himself wholly except to those who give themselves wholly to Him” (T.G. Way 28, 12).

Simeon’s prophecy then addresses the Virgin Mother directly: “And a sword shall pierce your own soul.” The bloody vision of the Cross suddenly interweaves with the sweet vision of Christmas and reminds us that the tender Child of Bethlehem is the divine Lamb who must be immolated for the salvation of the world.

2 — Among all those who were in the temple when the Child Jesus was presented there, only two persons recognized the Savior: the old Simeon and the prophetess Anna. Of Simeon it is said: “a just and devout man, who awaited the consolation of Israel; the Holy Spirit was upon him” (Lk. 2, 25); and of Anna: “she never departed from the temple, serving God night and day in fastings and prayers.” These are the characteristics of souls well disposed to receive Jesus’ redemptive work: rectitude of mind and will, sincere desire for God, recollection, prayer, mortification. The deeper these dispositions become, the more the soul opens itself to divine action: the light of the Holy Spirit makes it recognize in Jesus its Savior, its Sanctifier, and Jesus can fully accomplish His work in it. To these souls are applied in a wholly particular way the magnificent words of St. Paul in today’s Epistle (Gal. 4, 1-7): “Because you are children, God sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying: Abba, Father.” To every Christian, to everyone redeemed by Jesus’ Blood, the Apostle says: “you are no longer a servant, but a son; and if a son, then also an heir through God”; but unfortunately not all Christians live as true children of God: in Baptism they received the “adoption of sons,” but do not know how to correspond in deeds to this immense gratuitous gift, fruit of Jesus’ merits.

When, however, the soul second’s divine action generously, then that action invades it and the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, cries from the depths of its heart: “Abba, Father!”

Colloquy

My God, what great responsibility men and women have before Your immense benefits, before the Incarnation of Your Only-Begotten, made man for our salvation!

“Ah! how harmful the very greatness of the benefit will be to the ungrateful! Remedy this Yourself, Lord!... Children of men, how long will you be hard of heart, persisting in fighting against this most meek Jesus? What is this? Can our malice prevail against Him? No, certainly. Man’s life passes like the flower of hay, and the Son of the Virgin will come to pronounce His terrible sentence... Blessed are those who, in that fearful moment, will rejoice with You, Lord and my God!

“My Lord, how dare I ask You for new graces after having served You so badly and having kept Your gifts with such negligence? How will You trust a soul that has betrayed You so many times? What shall I do then, O Consolation of the desolate and Remedy of those who call on You for help? Must I perhaps hide my needs, waiting in silence for You to bring me the remedy? No, truly, Lord, because You, my delight, knowing that our needs are many and that in making them known to You we find relief, encourage us to ask, promising us that You will not fail to answer us.

“But what can so miserable a creature as I ask of You? I will say to You with St. Augustine: ‘Give me, my God, what to give You, that I may satisfy, at least in part, all that I owe You.’ Remember that I am Your creature and grant that I may know my Creator so that I may love Him” (T.G. Es. 3, 1 and 2; 5, 1 and 2).

But alas, Lord, it is I who do not remember, who do not correspond enough to Your infinite gifts!

You, sweet pilgrim of love, stand at the door and wait! How many doors in Bethlehem were closed at Your passing: there was no place for You, and only a poor stable opened to You. Is my heart perhaps not more miserable, more squalid, more unworthy than that shelter of animals? And yet, if I open to You, You will not disdain to make it Your dwelling and to find Your rest there, as You did in the grotto of Your nativity. O my Jesus, grant me grace to throw open to You totally my heart, to adhere with all the strength of my will to Your grace, to give You all my freedom, because now I desire and want only one freedom: the freedom to love You with all my strength, to give myself totally to You. O Lord, how much You have loved us, and how few there are who love You! grant that at least these few may be truly faithful to You and that among them I too may be found.