Daily Reflection for Thursday, February 02, 2023
Peace and Blessings, Friends and Parishioners,
We encourage you to reflect on Thursday's readings at this link:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020223.cfm
If you prefer to use your own Bible, the readings are:
First Reading: Malachi 3:1-4
Responsorial: Psalm 24:7, 8, 9, 10
Second Reading: Hebrews 2:14-18
Gospel: Luke 2:22-40 or 2:22-32
Our reflection on Thursday’s readings:
Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word. (Luke 2:29)
There I was resting on the couch last week wondering how I can be of help as Carolina (name changed to respect confidentiality) lay in the next room. Carolina’s cancer had spread throughout her body and her time was near. She stopped eating and drinking and the pain was being managed through chemicals that were developed for such purposes – to numb the pain. Her sister had a sense that Carolina made a conscious choice to stop eating and drinking.
Carolina died a few days later. Stories and snippets of her life were shared, as the family made their way together. People who were touched by her life sent emails to the family, which soothed their grieving hearts. The moments of her life were being connected and her life mission was more understood through the stories shared.
We read today of a moment in Simeon’s life. A sacred moment that was shepherded and guided by the Holy Spirit. Simeon was described as a righteous and devout person which I interpret as a person who paid attention to the Holy in his everyday life. As he was paying attention, the Holy Spirit revealed to him that he would see Christ before his death. Simeon knew the moment he was in the presence of the child Jesus. And in that sacred moment of recognizing Christ, he prophesied to Mary and Joseph the suffering and the glory that was to come.
Two weeks before Carolina died, she let me visit her. She really did not want to be seen with her hair thinning from radiation treatments but on that weekend, she welcomed me into her apartment. She said to me, “Welcome to the club.” What did she mean when she said this? What club was I welcomed into? Was she trying to say that she trusted me to join the others who were taking care of her? Was this the club?
While I may not know the club I am now a member of, I do know that I too, like Simeon, have seen the Christ child in Carolina that night. A sacred moment of being by someone’s bedside on their journey home. Simeon is such a beautiful teacher of what it means to pay attention to the sacred around each moment of each day. Like Simeon, we too are called to pay attention so that we may see Christ in our everyday lives.
May you pay attention to Christ in your everyday in the moments of life,
Margarita Solis-Deal