Tonight--Nunc Dimittis

Tonight, our nightly meditation came from an old friend, Emilie Griffin (1933-2020), who is no longer cutting up and down the streets of her much-loved Louisiana, but today finds herself, I'm sure, in meadows far more spacious and surprising and spectacular. Emilie and I were good friends, so hearing her voice this particular Sunday was wonderful. Enjoy. 

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On this day we remember Simeon, one of the most important witnesses to the Incarnation. Little is known about Simeon except what the Gospel tells us. "This man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him." Also he was there at the temple at Jerusalem when Joseph and Mary took their young child to present him to the Lord.

The Holy Spirit had made Simeon an extraordinary promise. Simeon would live to lay eyes on the Lord's Messiah.

The Spirit guided Simeon into the Temple just when Joseph and Mary were arriving.  Simeon took the child into  his arms and praised God. "Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace," begins Simeon's brief but beautiful song, or canticle, long known by its Latin name: Nunc Dimittis. His heart overflowed because God had allowed him to see this manifestation of God. This too is a "showing," an epiphany (the word means "manifestation" or "showing").

I'm reminded of that phrase by C. S. Lewis: "the tether and pant of the particular." I can remember moments in my own life when a very ordinary activity brought me a profound sense of blessing. And if I had known the words of the Nunc Dimittis by heart, I certainly would have sung them.

Simeon's sense of God's fulfilled promise makes the scene in the Temple profound. Nothing could have been more ordinary for a Jewish couple than to take their newborn son to the Temple to be dedicated to God. They bought a pai of turtledoves in accordance with Jewish law, as a sacrifice for God's graciousness. Mary and Joseph were practicing their religion in a most ordinary way. But the whole experience is shot through with joy, as well as a host of the sorrows to come.

We may never lose sight of the mystery of Christ, even in these ordinary events. The Gospel returns us to mystery again and again. Who can forget  Simeon's words to Mary: "And a sword will pierce your own soul, too." In this one sentence  Simeon foresees a consequence of the Incarnation that perhaps even the child's mother had not yet understood.

In our own lives we will also have glimpses of God's love, small epiphanies, our own moments to sing our Nune Dimittis. These glimpses are given to us, I think, when we are faithful to his word. 

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Lifted from God With Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas, (2007).