"Now you can leave, O Lord, that your servant goes to peace ..." (Luke 2: 22-35)
Biblical reflections by Mauro Leonardi*, priest and writer
Simeone is the Prototype of the believer. A believer lives his days as waiting. He lives on Sunday, the day of the Lord, as listening to the word. He lives the Eucharist as a moment of joy, in which to take Jesus incarnate in his arms and in his heart. Thus, living faith in the Lord does not mean living in a quiet habituality but shaken by desire.
From the Gospel according to Luca 2: 22-35
When the days of their ritual purification were carried out, according to the law of Moses, [Mary and Joseph] brought the child [Jesus] to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord - as is written in the law of the Lord: "Each first -born male will be sacred to the Lord " - And to offer a couple of Tortor or two young doves in sacrifice, as the Lord's law prescribes. Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeone, the right man and Pio, who waited for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. The Holy Spirit had announced that he would not see death without first having seen the Christ of the Lord. Moved by the Spirit, he went to the temple and, while the parents brought you the Child Jesus to do what the law prescribed in his regard, he too welcomed him in his arms and blessed God, saying:
«Now you can leave, O Lord, that your servant
go to peace, according to your word,
because my eyes have seen your salvation,
prepared by you in front of all peoples:
light to reveal you to the people
And the glory of your people, Israel ».
The Father and Mother of Jesus were amazed at the things that were said to him. Simeone blessed them and Mary, his mother, said, "Here, he is here for the fall and resurrection of many in Israel and as a sign of contradiction -and a sword will also pierce the soul to you -, so that thoughts are revealed of many hearts ».
* Mauro Leonardi (Como 1959) has been a priest since 29 May 1988 and has lived in Rome since then. He spends many hours of his day as a priest and prefers building bridges rather than raising walls. For years he has been writing stories, articles, essays and books that revolve around the relationship between man and God. Author of the blog Like Jesus. Abelis (Lindau) is his latest novel. The volunteers of the Gionata Project thank him for wanting to share these reflections on the Word with us.
