The Fifth Day in the
Octave of Christmas
(I John 2:3-11; Luke 2:22-35)
Fifty years ago Dutch theologian Edward Schillebeeckx wrote
a revolutionary book entitled Christ: The
Sacrament of the Encounter with God.
In this work the author showed how Jesus in the flesh signifies God’s
love for the world. The humanity of Jesus
then can be legitimately called a sacrament – a visible sign of invisible grace. The idea sounded almost heretical at the time
but is now accepted as a valid way of considering Christ’s redemptive
work.
In the gospel the visionary Simeon sees the infant Jesus as
“a sign that will be contradicted.” He too
recognizes that Jesus manifests God’s redemptive love for all. But he has the insight to realize that the
sign will be rejected by some. Indeed,
Jesus will become the test for the world.
Anyone who accepts him or, at least, his commandments of love of God and
love of neighbor he proclaims will find salvation. Anyone who rejects him or his message will be
lost. Simeon’s reference to the sword
piercing Mary seems to include her in this test.
Often we dwell on Simeon’s words to Mary as prophesying
Jesus’ death on the cross which she witnesses in John’s gospel. However rich for some that way of thinking
is, we do well to ponder the prophecy as a matter of acceptance or rejection of
Jesus as sign of God’s love. We can take
note that Mary passes the test brilliantly.
She is the first to follow Jesus by meditating on the events of his birth
and acting on them. In doing so, she provides us an example for this Christmas
week.
