Simple faith<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
The account of Jesus\u2019 birth is disconcerting.<\/b>\u00a0 According to Luke, Jesus is born in a village in which nowhere is he welcomed.\u00a0 The shepherds had to look all over Bethlehem only to find him lying in a manger, in a remote place, with no other people there but his parents.\u00a0 Apparently, Luke sees the need to construct a second account.\u00a0 In this account, the child is rescued from anonymity and is publicly presented.\u00a0 What more fitting place is there than the Temple in Jerusalem to give a solemn welcome to Jesus as the Messiah sent by God to his people?<\/p>\n
But Luke\u2019s story will again be disconcerting.\u00a0 As Jesus\u2019 parents approach the Temple with the child, the high priests do not come out to meet him, nor do other religious leaders.\u00a0 In just a few years they will be the ones to hand him over to be crucified.\u00a0 Jesus finds no welcome in that religion that is sure of itself and which have been forgetful of the suffering of the poor.<\/b><\/p>\n
The teachers of the Law, who preach their \u201chuman traditions\u201d in the Temple courts, do not come to welcome him either.\u00a0 Years later, they will reject Jesus for healing the sick on the Sabbath in violation of the law.\u00a0 Jesus finds no welcome in doctrines and religious traditions that do not make for a life that is more dignified and more wholesome.<\/b><\/p>\n
Those who welcome Jesus and recognize him as God-Sent are two elderly folks with simple faith and open heart, who have spent their long lives waiting for God\u2019s salvation.\u00a0 Their names seem to suggest that they are symbolic characters.\u00a0 The old man is named Simeon (\u201cThe Lord has listened\u201d) and the old woman is named Anna (\u201cGift\u201d).\u00a0 They represent so many people of simple faith<\/b> who, in all peoples of every period, place their trust in God as they live.<\/p>\n
Both are among those who are known as the \u201cPoor of Yahweh\u201d who make up the healthier environment in Israel.\u00a0 These are people who have nothing but their faith in God<\/b>.\u00a0 They are not thinking of their fortunes or their well-being.\u00a0 They only wait for God\u2019s \u201cconsolation,\u201d which his people need, the \u201cliberation\u201d that they have been seeking generation after generation, the \u201clight\u201d that will brighten the darkness in which the people of the earth live.\u00a0 Now they feel that their hopes are fulfilled in Jesus.<\/p>\n
This simple faith that waits for God\u2019s final salvation is the faith of most people.<\/b>\u00a0 It is a faith that is not so refined:\u00a0 it shows itself concretely in coarse and distracted prayers; its formulations are not that orthodox; it awakens above all in times of hardship and straits.\u00a0 It is a faith that God has no problem understanding and accepting.<\/p>\n
Jos\u00e9 Antonio Pagola<\/b><\/p>\n
February 2, 2014
\nPresentaion of the Lord (A)
\nLuke 2, 22-40<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"