“Being on the watch to listen to the promptings of the Spirit just like the patient and ever-watchful Simeon!”
(Based on 1 Jn 2:3-11 and Lk 2:22-35 – 5th Day in the Octave of Christmas)
Mobile phones come with an option of keeping it in the ‘silent mode’.
It often happens, that when a phone is kept in the silent mode, one fails to notice a call.
But if one has been eagerly and excitedly waiting for someone’s call, it will be received, even if the phone is kept in the silent mode..
Right?
Great blessings from God often come to us silently and quietly.
But the one who is waiting eagerly and patiently excited, receives these blessings even in the silent mode of events…
Such was the case when the Lord was born…
The Messiah was promised long back… centuries ago.
Yet, when we go through the accounts of the Bible, it seems that most people were not ready to receive Him…
The Scribes and Scholars of the time never seem to have expected…
The rich and the powerful people of Bethlehem failed to have any notice of Him…
Hardly anyone knew when and where the Saviour – the Little Babe was born!
It seemed like a call on the mobile phone that is kept in the silent mode!
Silently, the Precious Gift was delivered…
Without and fuss or fanfare, the Marvellous Treasure was presented…
But there was also a tiny group of people, who were waiting for this Blessed Fortune…
There were some who were waiting eagerly and patiently excited..
Among this tiny set of persons was Simeon!
In some dramas, we see some characters who appear on the stage just once…
… speak a few crucial dialogues or perform some significant deeds
… and they disappear
… never to be seen again!
Simeon is one such figure…
We know nothing about his background, his hometown, his education, or even his occupation.
We assume that he was an old man, but even that is not explicitly mentioned.
He simply appears on the stage of salvation drama for a few moments…
After his part is over, he fades from the scene, never to be heard from again!
We however, do know… that this Simeon was waiting eagerly for the Lord.
We could just imagine how Simeon would have gone through his days of waiting for the Saviour of the world…
Every time some couple walked in with child, Simeon would have asked, “Could this be the Promised Messiah?”…
Finally, when Mary and Joseph walked in with the child Jesus…
… Simeon sensed the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
However, looking at them, perhaps, a doubt would have arisen in his mind…
“Could the child of this simple and ordinary parents really be the Messiah?
The man seems to be some ordinary carpenter sort of…and the mother looks so ordinary a peasant girl.
Is it really possible that the Messiah, the Promised Saviour of the Universe, be having such simple and ordinary parents?”
And probably, the voice of the Holy Spirit would have boomed into the ears of Simeon…
“YES!
Truly… there is the Messiah… the One promised by God!
“Human beings seek external appearances….but God chooses by His own Divine standards.
Doubt not… but go and meet Him, Who was promised for ages!
Believe firmly…and encounter the One who is the Salvation of the world!”
What about us?
Do we seek and listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our lives?
It could come through various formats?
Inspirations… Thoughts… Circumstances…Other people… Commandments of the Church.. Bible.. Challenges in Life…etc…
Are we in patient waiting and constant vigilance to hear this voice of the Lord?
Sometimes we cast away inspirations and feelings as trivial and minor…
Sometimes we discard some people as just insignificant and unimportant…
Sometimes we pass of situations and circumstances as ordinary and common…
Sometimes we reject commandments and teachings as outdated and obsolete…
But the Lord… through the patient and ever-watchful Simeon, today, invites us to always be on the watch to listen to the promptings of the Spirit…
We sometimes miss important calls when our phones are kept in silent mode…
Let it not happen so with the movements of the Spirit…
Let us always be observant and alert…
The Spirit is talking… the Spirit is moving…
Are we listening?
Are we aware?
Ting ting…
… Is there a missed call or a message?
Check check….
God Bless! Live Jesus!
Quotable-quote-a-day-with-St Francis de Sales (SFS) – “Retire at various times into the solitude of your own heart…
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