Week 12 - The birth of Jesus
Week 12 (6th January 2023)
The birth of Jesus
Welcome in our beautiful Stanislas chapel for the first meditation in 2023. We wish you all a very blessed and happy New Year. We pray together for peace on Earth and for peace in our own hearts.
Theme:
A very human event: a birth while on a journey.
Almost unnoticed a child is here
who comes closer to us
than we are able to come close to ourselves.
This child intervenes in the story of my life.
What I might want to ask:
That I can lovingly accept this Christ child
and hold Him in my arms.
That the new life He brings will also enter me.
I place myself before God who is waiting for me and longing for me. And I let myself receive His friendly and loving gaze.
Music: Nunc dimittis Taizé
Nunc dimittis servum tutum,
Domine,
Secundum verbum tuum
In pace
Now let your servant go,
Lord,
as you had promised,
in peace.
YouTube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRjSiduxioM
Spotify link:
https://open.spotify.com/track/1RzWGdhnFAEGLVTMXUv0lD?si=89501dee9f86448a
Luke 2, 25-32 Jesus Is Presented in the Temple
Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple….
Inspired by the Spirit Simeon went to the temple. His faith in God’s goodness was great. His belief that he, as a faithful servant of God, would see the promised Messiah before his death, was also very great. Full of longing he went to the temple. I consider my own longings which have brought me to this chapel today.
And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
“Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace,
according to thy word;
for mine eyes have seen thy salvation
which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to thy people Israel.”
In imagination I take up a position in this story. With my full attention I look at Simeon while he is sitting praying in the temple. I see Mary and Joseph come into the temple with Jesus. I see how Simeon looks at Jesus and His parents. I keep looking at Simeon while he comes to the realization that this vulnerable little baby is the promised Saviour. What do I see in his eyes? I observe how he walks towards Mary and asks her permission to hold the baby. I look at Simeon while he so tenderly takes the child into his arms.
The great mystery of the Messiah has been revealed to Simeon. Maybe I have experienced something like this myself: a glimpse of the secret, a person who revealed the mystery to me or a moment of deep peace: a ‘Simeon experience’. Or maybe I long for such a revelation and would like to take the baby Jesus into my own arms and prayerfully hold him a while. Quietly I consider the mystery of God’s strength in this vulnerable little baby. And maybe I can pray that I am able to take the Christ child into my heart. What would that mean for my life?
Music: Nunc dimittis Taizé
Christ could be born
a thousand times in Bethlehem –
but all in vain
until He is born in me.
Angelus Silesius