It wasn’t easy for the apostles to figure Jesus out. At one point, Jesus even asked them: “Who do men say I am?” The Scriptures for this Sunday are answering that question by presenting Jesus to us in two ways. First, Jesus is a little human child. He is flesh and blood; he has parents who are devout Jews; he lived in a certain place and time. Our second reading from Hebrews (2:14-18) “hammers in” the message of Jesus’ humanness and why it is important: “Since the children [us] share in blood and flesh, Jesus likewise shared in them … he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every way … Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.”
Second, our Gospel story (Luke 2:22-40) introduces us to the Jesus who, in his humanness, is more than meets the eye. He also is “the Lord whom you seek,” as proclaimed by the prophet Malachi, in our Hebrew Scripture reading. In our charming Gospel story, new parents Mary and Joseph had traveled about 97 miles from Nazareth to Jerusalem to offer back to God the gift of the child they have been given. But then they themselves receive a strange gift. Simeon, a “righteous and devout” man, and Anna, “a prophetess,” tell Mary and Joseph who Jesus really is: the savior, “a light for revelation to the Gentles, and glory for your people Israel.” Simeon also tells Mary that she will be a sorrowful Mother, whose heart “a sword will pierce” when her beloved son is executed.
The subsequent Lucan Gospel readings we’ll hear before next Advent will continue revealing Jesus’ humanness, his divine Lordship, and the way he will save us through death. Stepping back from these Scriptures, notice that each of us is, like Jesus, also more than meets the eye. We live interior lives that even we don’t fully understand. We live in this world as human persons but we also live “in Christ,” as St. Paul tells us over and over again. Our human lives have eternal significance. We each have our own invisible faith journeys. We have our own Simeons and Annas — those who tell us who we are, and who give us a purpose and destiny through our own baptisms into our Catholic faith. Perhaps today choose one person you will interact with, and look at them with appreciation, for they are more than meets the eye!
— Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia
