Gospel Reading for December 29, 2025 – Luke 2: 22-35
FRUITION
When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord, and to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:
“Lord, now let your servant go in peace;
your word has been fulfilled:
my own eyes have seen the salvation
which you prepared in the sight of every people,
a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.”
The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
———-
Simeon was an ordinary man, who was not a high priest, a scribe or a Pharisee, but what made him extraordinary was his being righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and that the Holy Spirit revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Christ. So, when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple, he immediately recognized Jesus, took him into his arms and prayed what we now call the Canticle of Simeon, which the Church uses for Compline (Night Prayer).
Simeon did not fear death. For him it meant the FRUITION of his hope for the consolation of Israel. A lot of us are afraid of death, perhaps because what happens next is unknown to us. But, if like Simeon, it will mean to us the FRUITION of our hope to live with God forever, we need not fear.
This old children’s prayer before bedtime should perhaps be better for us adults to pray before retiring to bed at night:
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
bless this bed that I lie on.
Before I lay me down to sleep,
I give my soul to Christ to keep.
Four corners of my bed,
four angels `round my head:
one to watch, one to pray, and
two to bear my soul away.
I go by sea, I go by land,
the Lord made me with his right hand.
If any danger comes to me,
Sweet Jesus Christ, deliver me!
He’s the branch, and I’m the flower,
I pray that God send me a holy hour.
And if I die before I wake,
I pray that Christ my soul will take!
